NYPD Claims Subway Shooting Suspect Reported Himself After Workman Claims Credit
23:59 GMT 13.04.2022 (Updated: 13:29 GMT 06.08.2022)
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Conflicting stories have emerged about just how the suspect in Tuesday’s shooting aboard a Brooklyn subway train came to be apprehended.
On Wednesday afternoon, New York Mayor Eric Adams announced that Frank James, 61, had been apprehended by police in connection with the shooting onboard a Brooklyn subway the day prior.
James was arrested in the East Village, a neighborhood on Manhattan island about five miles from the station where the shooting happened. He awaits arraignment on Thursday on a federal terrorism charge.
While there was video circulating on social media of James being led to a police cruiser already in handcuffs, no footage of his arrest itself has been made public.
BREAKING: New York City subway attack suspect Frank James is in custody.#NewYork #brooklyn #nypd #breaking #SubwayStation #brooklynsubway #nyc#SunsetPark #BreakingNews #Arizona #FrankJames #uhaul #fbi pic.twitter.com/rR28tHAsNJ
— NY Actions (@NY_ACTIONS) April 13, 2022
— NY Actions (@NY_ACTIONS) April 13, 2022
Shortly afterward, video appeared across social media of a man who claimed to be responsible for tipping off the police about James’ whereabouts. Zach Tahhan, a 21-year-old Syrian-American security camera installer, told reporters that he was installing a camera nearby when he spotted James and tipped off an NYPD officer across the street.
Zack Dahnan, the 21-year old security camera installer who first spotted the suspected subway shooter in the East Village, is holding an impromptu press conference on 1st Avenue. He says news of the presser left him unable to sleep. pic.twitter.com/5j3DrFqnMx
— Jake Offenhartz (@jangelooff) April 13, 2022
However, before long, media outlets began reporting that James had turned himself in, not mentioning Tahhan’s interaction at all. Their reports cited the NYPD.
According to the local ABC affiliate, WABC-TV, however, both stories are true. The outlet reported that NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell had said that multiple reports came into Crime Stoppers about James’ whereabouts, including from bystanders, as well as seemingly from James himself.
“I think you're looking for me," the caller reportedly said. "I'm seeing my picture all over the news and I'll be around this McDonalds."
However, by the time police arrived at the fast foot restaurant, James had left and was found a short distance away.
The shooting happened inside an N line subway train on Tuesday morning as the train pulled into the 36th & 4th Avenue subway station in the eastern New York City borough of Brooklyn. The suspect set off smoke grenades and fired 33 shots inside the crowded subway car, shooting 10 people and leaving a total of 29 injured. Graphic images recorded immediately after the attack showed panicked passengers pouring out of the subway along with smoke, and blood smeared and pooling on surfaces. None of the victims have died.
James has addresses in both Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the latter city, he rented a U-Haul moving van that NYPD officers found parked in Brooklyn after finding the keys inside the subway station where the attack occurred, pointing investigators toward him.
The suspect’s social media was reportedly covered in hateful, rage-filled commentary about a variety of people and ethnic groups, including other Black people, and some specifically raging at Mayor Adams. He also describes himself in the videos as suffering from mental illness, including post-traumatic stress.
