NEW YORK--The man suspected of setting off smoke bombs and spraying gunfire inside a New York City subway car, injuring 23 people, was arrested on Wednesday on a federal charge of violently attacking a mass transportation system, capping an around-the-clock manhunt.
Frank Robert James, 62, was taken into custody in lower Manhattan, about 8 miles from the scene of Tuesday's assault, after authorities determined his whereabouts with the help of tips from residents, some of whom posted sightings on social media, police said.
James was arrested 30 hours after an attack that erupted during the morning commuter rush as the Manhattan-bound N line train was pulling into an underground station in Brooklyn's Sunset Park community, renewing fears of violence in the city's subway system.
"My fellow New Yorkers, we got him. We got him," Mayor Eric Adams told a press conference announcing the arrest. "We're going to protect the people of this city and apprehend those who believe they can bring terror to everyday New Yorkers."
James, a Bronx native with recent addresses in Philadelphia and Milwaukee, had nine prior arrests in New York and three in New Jersey, according to the New York Police Department (NYPD). A 10-page criminal complaint filed by federal prosecutors on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn charges James with a single count committing a terrorist or other violent attack against a mass transportation system. If convicted, he could face life in prison, officials said.
He was scheduled to make his first court appearance on Thursday, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn said.
James is accused of setting off two smoke bombs inside a subway car moments before opening fire on fellow passengers with a semi-automatic handgun. The pistol, purchased in 2011, was later recovered from the scene, along with three extended-ammunition magazines, a torch, a hatchet, a bag of fireworks and a container of gasoline, according to police and court documents.
Police said 10 people were struck by gunfire, five of them listed in critical but stable condition on Wednesday. Thirteen others were injured in the frantic rush to flee the smoke-filled train. All of the victims were expected to survive.
James was apprehended without incident in Manhattan's East Village neighbourhood after he was spotted - first at a fast-food restaurant and later on the street - by onlookers who recognized him from wanted posters and relayed his location to authorities, police said. "I said, 'Oh my God, this is the guy,'" one bystander, Zack Dahhan, told reporters of his encounter with the suspect before he helped alert police in a nearby patrol car.
"He had a bag and was walking on the sidewalk. He put the bag on the street. I saw a lot of people come behind him. I said to the people, 'Please guys, please keep some space, this guy is going to do something,'" Dahhan recounted.
Authorities told reporters that an investigation was continuing into what James' motive might have been. One focus of that inquiry, according to an FBI affidavit in the case, was a number of YouTube videos he posted addressing statements to New York City's mayor about homelessness and the subway system. A YouTube account apparently belonging to James was taken down Wednesday for violating the online video platform's "community guidelines," the company said.
