According to ABC7NY
A manhunt continues Wednesday morning for the suspect following Tuesday’s mass shooting on the subway at 36th Street Station in Brooklyn.
The attack left at least 29 people shot or otherwise injured, shaking a city already unnerved by a sharp rise in crime.
A “mumbling” lone gunman in a reflective vest and a gas mask threw smoke bombs into a subway car in Brooklyn and then began shooting at the height of the morning rush, with the manhunt continuing into the evening as new details emerged in the probe.
None of the injuries were considered life-threatening. Authorities said a magazine jammed in the gun, which possibly saved lives.
Tuesday evening, the authorities identified 62-year-old Frank R. James as a person of interest in the investigation and released a photo at an NYPD briefing led by Commissioner Keechant Sewell.
On Wednesday morning, Mayor Eric Adams said James was no longer just a person of interest and would be considered the suspect and a wanted fugitive going forward.
Police now have probable cause to arrest James for the attempted murder of ten people in the subway, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
That determination was made overnight after more than 18 hours of investigation that included video, cell phone data and witness interviews.
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The US Marshals have joined the search along with the NYPD, FBI, ATF and other agencies.
“There was a clear desire to create terror,” said NYC Mayor Eric Adams Wednesday morning. “If you bring a smoke bomb or would you bring an automatic weapon with a gas mask and in a very methodical way injured – injured, attempt to harm – innocent New Yorkers, that is terror.”
James rented the U-Haul in Philadelphia and the keys to that van were found in the shooter’s possessions left behind at the subway station, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said. The U-Haul was towed away Tuesday night.
Sewell also revealed Tuesday night that additional security will be added to Mayor Adams’ detail due to social media posts from James that seem to be highly critical of the mayor for his homeless policy.
The posts include videos that are filled with hate-filled racist and sexist insults and rambling rants about Mayor Adams’ crackdown on people living in the subway.
Also recovered at the scene was a 9 mm Glock semi-automatic handgun, three extended magazines, a hatchet, gasoline, four smoke grenades (two detonated and two undetonated) and bag of consumer grade fireworks, as well as a credit card authorities say was used to rent the U-Haul. They say the gun was not stolen.
