Shivani Thakur
Published on: April 14, 2022, at 18:47 IST
Frank R James who was wanted in connection with a shooting on a New York City subway train, was taken into custody, New York City Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said.
“We hope this arrest brings some solace to the victims and the people of the city of New York,” Sewell told.
An attacker set off smoke bombs aboard a subway train at local, then opened fire with a handgun, shooting 23 times.
Ten people were injured by gunfire while another 13 were hurt by the smoke or in the panic to get out of the train following the shooting, New York authorities said.
James faces a federal charge of a “terrorism” attack on mass transportation, officials said, which carries a life sentence if convicted.
Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from New York, said James’s arrest was “a huge sigh of relief for millions of New Yorkers who have been very … anxious all day”
Elizondo noted “there is no obvious motive” for the attack so far, as the investigation into what occurred is ongoing. “But that is clearly what’s going to be on everyone’s mind: ‘What would drive someone to do this?’” he said.
The US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) determined that James had purchased the gun used in the attack in 2011, John Devito, the top ATF official in New York, told reporters.
The New York Police Department said James, who has addresses in Philadelphia and Milwaukee, had left keys to a rented U-Haul van at the crime scene in the 36th Street subway station, in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighbourhood.
A video shows James entering a subway station in Brooklyn with a large bag, the official said.
Investigators were reviewing hours of rambling, profanity-filled videos James had posted on social media platforms as they tried to discern a motive.
“You got kids going in here now taking machine guns and mowing down innocent people,” James said in a video in which he criticise the crime against Black People.
James’ sister Catherine James Robinson said in an interview that he had “been on his own his whole life” and that she was surprised by the incident. “I don’t think he would do anything like that. That’s not in his nature to do anything like that,” she said.
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