After prosecutors argued that he posed a flight risk and a danger to the community, a federal judge in the United States on Thursday issued an order of custody for the man suspected of detonating smoke bombs and spraying gunshots inside a New York City subway vehicle earlier this week.
An initial court hearing was held on Thursday for the guy, Frank James, who is accused of hurting 23 persons during the attack on a mass transportation system.
On Wednesday, a 30-hour manhunt for the lone suspect in an assault that alarmed passengers on the nation’s busiest and largest rapid transit system and reignited calls for tighter security on the subway ended when James, 62, was apprehended in lower Manhattan.
Attorney Sara Winik stated in a court document before the suspect’s first appearance in federal court in Brooklyn said she had no further information to share about his whereabouts.
“The defendant’s criminal conduct was extraordinarily serious. He fired approximately 33 rounds in cold blood at terrified passengers who had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.”
“At least 10 individuals were struck by the defendant’s gunfire, while many more were injured in the chaos that followed his attack,” he said in the filing. “Numerous passengers could have been killed.”
Five miles from the scene of Tuesday’s assault, which occurred as the N train was preparing to enter an underground station in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood, James was arrested.
Ten individuals were shot dead, five of them critically injured, and 13 others were hurt in the ensuing stampede of scared subway commuters onto the platform of the 36th Street station, according to police. Everyone was anticipated to make it out of this situation unscathed.
Despite the chaos, authorities believe they have identified James as the shooter’s accomplice after finding a credit card and the keys to a U-Haul van he had hired and left unlocked several streets away from the scene of the crime.
In addition to the Glock 9 mm semi-automatic handgun used in the attack, authorities at the scene also seized three extended-ammunition magazines, a torch, a hatchet, fireworks, and a canister of gasoline, according to police and court papers.
Residents who recognized James from wanted photographs and some of whom posted sightings on social media helped police hunt him down the next day in Manhattan’s East Village. There were no reports of any violence during his arrest, according to law enforcement sources.
The motivation for the attack has not been established by authorities. However, according to an FBI document, James released a number of YouTube videos in which he addressed New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s views on homelessness and the subway. On Wednesday, YouTube said an account that appeared to belong to James had been removed for breaking the platform’s “community guidelines.”
According to the New York Times and the New York Post, James made a call to a McDonald’s fast-food tip line on Wednesday to give police an approximate idea of where he was located. Reuters was unable to independently verify the claims.
One count of terrorizing or otherwise violently attacking a mass transit system, which is punishable by up to life in prison, was brought by federal authorities on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.
This Bronx native has lived most recently in Philadelphia and Milwaukee, and the New York Police Department records show he’s been arrested nine times in the city and three times outside the city — including one in New Jersey.
By witnesses, the train shooting suspect was dressed in construction-worker attire when he allegedly set off two smoke canisters before he opened fire on other passengers. The FBI also discovered additional firearm magazines, ammo, a Taser, and a pistol barrel adapter for a suppressor in James’ apartment and a storage locker in Philadelphia.