Frank James, a 62-year-old African American, was suspected of being the author of the New York subway shooting. He was arrested Wednesday evening, according to various American media.
The man suspected of shooting at the New York subway during rush hour Tuesday morning, injuring 23, including 10 by bullets, was arrested on Wednesday, several US media outlets citing police sources reported. He will be prosecuted under a law that prohibits “terrorist attacks and other violence against (…) public transport”, a federal prosecutor’s office said. “He will appear in federal court in Brooklyn and, if convicted, will face life in prison,” prosecutor Breon Peace said at a news conference.
The suspect, who had caused havoc on the subway the day before, was found in Manhattan, according to NBC television. “We will continue to close the trap around him and stop him,” New York Democratic mayor Eric Adams promised to be elected last year at the turn of the crime-fighting theme. .
Police had been searching for more than 24 hours for Frank James, a 62-year-old African American, accused of multiple shootings on an N-line train at 36th Street Station in south Brooklyn. On Wednesday, New Yorkers received an “urgent” message on their phones asking them to provide helpful information to investigators. A $50,000 reward had been put on the table.
On Youtube
The man had removed a YouTube page called “prophetoftruth88” (Prophet of Truth) on Wednesday morning for “violating community rules” from the site. He posted several videos there in which we see him launching long diatribes, sometimes lingering and fierce, raising racial issues, insecurity in New York, especially on the subway, and attacking gay people, or new Mayor Eric Adams.
As the hunt for the gunman, who was described as “dangerous” the day before, continued, millions of New Yorkers took to the subway, one of the largest networks in the world, to get to work, some posting selfies on the social networks. to show that life was returning to normal. “You don’t get up in the morning thinking you won’t come home or you’ll hurt yourself if you go there. It’s New York, the city never ends,” Sony Washington explained. 35-year-old train driver, while fearing that the suspect is still out in the wild.
“Since September 11 (2001), I’ve always been mindful of my surroundings. But lately there have been more incidents in the harbor, so I’m paying more attention,” adds Laura Swalm, 49, who lives in the neighboring state of New Jersey. .
33 bullets fired
On Tuesday morning, around 8:30 am (12:30 GMT), at a time when the subways are overcrowded, the person, wearing a gas mask, lit two devices that smoked the car and then fired at the passengers as the train entered the station. “We were really lucky it wasn’t much more serious,” said NYPD chief Keechant Sewell, summarizing the authorities’ relief.
The suspect fired 33 bullets. “All you see is black smoke, and I turned right and I saw this man in a mask,” one of the victims, Hourari Benkada, told CNN from his hospital bed. “The firing lasted about a minute (…). I’ve never heard so many shots come out of a gun… (…) He probably had sprawling magazines or some other weapon on fire,” the man added. . hit the knee. On the spot, investigators found a pistol and three magazines.
The attack came as New York City faced a spike in crime since the Covid-19 pandemic, with the homicide rate rising from 319 in 2019 to 488 in 2021, though the annual number recorded well below more than 2,000 a year in the early 1990s. Shootings have also continued to rise since the beginning of the year, according to police figures from 260 to 296 in the first quarter of 2022, some of which were a good sign, such as the death on Friday of a 17-year-old birthday girl, shot and killed outside a high school in the Bronx.
