NEW YORK — The man police initially called a “person of interest” in the Brooklyn subway shooting attack he is now a suspect, Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday morning.
Frank James, 62, is being wanted in connection with Tuesday’s chaotic shooting that left dozens injured during the morning rush hour. The New York City Police Department confirmed that James was now considered a suspect and that no arrests had been made earlier Wednesday.
Adams made the comment during a radio interview with WNYC. Her press secretary, Fabien Levy, later tweeted that the mayor “just announced that Frank James is now a suspect in yesterday’s subway shooting and he’s no longer just a person of interest.”
Levy said the change in James’ status was due to progress in the police investigation overnight. He did not elaborate.
On Tuesday, police officers he had identified James, but initially stopped short of saying the man was a suspect in the shooting.
About two dozen people were injured.but none fatal, in the shooting on a Manhattan-bound train arriving at a Sunset Park Subway StationPolice Commissioner Keechant Sewell said Tuesday.
The shooter put on a gas mask before setting off two smoke canisters and opening fire while still on the train, Sewell said. The gunman fired 33 shots from a 9mm Glock 17 pistol, which was also found in the subway, Detective Chief James Essig said. At least 10 people were shot and at least 19 others were taken to hospitals for injuries ranging from smoke inhalation to shrapnel wounds.
MORE ABOUT THE BROOKLYN SUBWAY SHOOTING:Person of interest identified in Brooklyn subway train attack that injured about 2 dozen people
HOW THE SHOT DEVELOPED:Photos and videos show the chaos of the Brooklyn subway attack
Security camera at Brooklyn subway station had ‘server issue’
The head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Wednesday there was a problem with a security camera server at the 36th Street subway station where the train stopped.
“It looks like that (camera) had a problem with the server,” meaning the camera wasn’t sending footage to the NYPD, MTA President Janno Lieber told NY1. Appearing on CBS, Lieber said the the camera was near a turnstile at the station, but there were 600 cameras on the entire Brooklyn N train line.
“There are images of this type that are going to be found,” Lieber said.
The MTA has cameras at all subway stations, but not necessarily at each station platform, where passengers get on and off trains.
Essig said the N train was between the 59th and 36th street stations when the shooting began. The shooter was in the second car in the back corner and fled after the train pulled into the station, Essig said.
IS IT TERRORISM? The Brooklyn shooting is not being investigated as terrorism ‘at this time.’ This is why.
Police investigate YouTube videos, threats of violence appear linked to person of interest
Police found two unexploded smoke grenades, an axe, gasoline and the key to a U-Haul truck on the train. Investigators believe James rented the truck in Philadelphia and police found it later Tuesday in Brooklyn, Essig said.
Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday tomorrow on MSNBC that no additional information connecting James to New York City has surfaced. James has ties to both Wisconsin and Philadelphia, authorities said.
WHERE IS SUNSET PARK:Subway attack shocks Sunset Park, a center for working-class immigrants: ‘Nothing like this happens here’
Sewell said police are investigating a series of social media posts that appear to come from James, where he mentioned homelessness and Adams. The mayor’s security detail would be bolstered by an “abundance of caution,” he said.
A law enforcement official who was not authorized to comment publicly told USA TODAY that authorities were reviewing various social media pages, including YouTube videos that appeared to show James discussing a variety of topics, from black rights and slavery to the recent mass shooting in Sacramento and the confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.
The videos touch on themes of violence, systemic racism, and black superiority. In a video posted the day before the attack, the man in the videos said that he wanted to harm people. “I can tell that he wanted to kill people. He wanted to see people die.”
Other videos police are reviewing include clips from New York’s subway trains. In February, a video mentioned the city subway security plan. The man says the plan is “doomed to fail” and refers to himself as a “victim” of the mayor’s mental health program. A video from January, called “Dear Mr. Mayor,” is somewhat critical of Adams’ plan to end gun violence, which has become an early focus of the Democrat’s first term in office.
Eric Adams: The city will search for metal detectors for the subway
Adams said during an appearance on MSNBC Wednesday morning that the city was exploring all “legal” technologies to keep subways safe and detect any potential weapons entering the system.
When asked about adding metal detectors, Adams said it was a possibility, but said the detectors would not be common airport detectors, but less invasive technologies that passengers wouldn’t even notice.
Adams said that a safe and reliable subway system was essential to New York City. “It’s the soul of our city. It’s the great equalizer,” she said on MSNBC.
US cities step up subway police patrols, Brooklyn neighborhood on edge
The attack sparked fear among commuters taking the nation’s subway system. As a result, police in other major US cities have increased their presence on public transportation.
The bart system around the San Francisco Bay Area, SEPTIOS in Philadelphia and Washington Meter they were among the major public transportation systems that added police officers or were on high alert after the attack.
in the park at sunsetResidents were shocked that their predominantly immigrant, working-class neighborhood became the center of a violent attack on Tuesday.
“Violence in the subway is not new in our area, but to see so many people so terrified and so many people saying they saw people covered in blood, it’s crazy,” said Rogelio Miranda, a cashier at a supermarket near the subway stop. from Brooklyn. .
“None of this happens here,” said Rosario Moreno, who lived in Sunset Park for 17 years. “I feel lost and scared.”
Sunset Park was once the predominant home of Scandinavian immigrants until people from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic began arriving before 1970, followed later by Mexicans and more Central Americans.
Chinese immigrants looking to settle down and start businesses outside of the city’s busy Chinatown began settling in the area in the late 1980s. Newcomers from China taking trains from Manhattan were often told to get off. at the “blue sky stop”, a reference to Sunset Park, where subway lines exited from open-air tunnels.
Contributors: Kevin McCoy, Gabriela Miranda, Swapna Venugopal, and N’dea Yancey-Bragg, USA TODAY; Eduardo Cuevas, Rockland/Westchester Journal News
Reference-www.usatoday.com