Frank R. James id as person of interest in Brooklyn Subway attack and is linked to abandoned U-Haul found believed to be rented by the gunman Tuesday morning.
A 62-year-old Philadelphia man has been identified as a person of interest in the Brooklyn subway attack that injured at least 29 people Tuesday morning, officials said.
Frank R. James rented a U-Haul van tied to the N train attack in Sunset Park and is being sought for questioning, police said at an evening briefing.
The key to the van was found at the scene of the crime, as was a credit card that rented the vehicle out of Philadelphia, cops and law-enforcement sources said.
It remained unclear if James was the suspected gunman.
Authorities said 10 of the injured commuters had been wounded by gunfire.
Authorities have identified Frank R. James, 62, of Philadelphia, as a person of interest in the NYC subway shooting investigation https://t.co/HMdSPWWQIV pic.twitter.com/RvEPsN70cL
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) April 12, 2022
The gunman had been on the run for hours before police uncovered a crucial clue: the van, which had Arizona plates and was located on West Third Street near Kings Highway late Tuesday afternoon, sources said.
Police have launched a massive manhunt for the shooter and revealed that surveillance cameras at the Sunset Park subway station were not working at the time of the assault. Law enforcement said cameras tend to go out ‘from time to time.’
NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said at an earlier press conference that the suspect is a roughly 5-foot-5 black man with a heavy build at around 170 pounds. He was wearing a gas mask, an orange and green construction-type vest, neon-green work helmet and a hooded gray sweatshirt at the time.
During an evening press briefing, Sewell said that among the items recovered by cops at the scene were a 9 mm handgun, a hatchet, gasoline and ‘consumer-grade fireworks.’
Authorities confirm a .380 handgun was found inside the station, along with three extended magazines; one was empty, one was full and a third was jammed in the gun.
Another bag was discovered that contained a batch of Falcon Rising fireworks and Seismic Wave firecrackers. It’s unclear what the wanted man intended to do with them.
On YouTube, James shared a video in the name ‘prophet oftruth88’ about a slashing and recent violent crimes in the New York subway. The Pix11 news story featured at the beginning of the YouTube video discussed New York Mayor Eric Adams being questioned about rising crime in the subways and homeless people.
Who is he? Brooklyn Subway shooter U-haul found abandoned with Arizona license plate & recovered credit card linked to gunman https://t.co/X9w0yMCvLX #Brooklyn subway shooting #Sunset Park #Sunset Park shooting #Brooklyn #BrooklynShooting #SunsetPark
— Scallywagandvagabond (@ScallywagNYC) April 12, 2022
Who is he?
The gunman then disappeared from 36th St, where no security cameras were in operation.
He may also have jumped onto one of the other trains at the station, or fled into the subway tunnel, officials speculated.
ABC News reports that police have obtained a photograph of the suspect from a bystander’s phone, but that image has yet to be publicly released.
No known motive for the attack was immediately known as police continued to scour NYC for the gunman.
