The Metro Transit Authority (MTA) of New York is launching an investigation into why cameras were offline during a brutal shooting that occurred in the subway earlier this month.
Acting MTA Inspector General Elizabeth Keating said in a statement that the malfunctioning camera “raised some questions about the MTA camera system”, according to the New York Post.
The probe will investigate what prevented the cameras at the 36th and 25th Street subway station from sending footage back to MTA headquarters and the New York City Police Department.
Thus far, the MTA has blamed a bad Internet connection for the failure. MTA CEO Janno Lieber said in an interview with MSNBC’s Morning Joe that the MTA has over 10,000 cameras in the metro system and over 600 in Brooklyn alone. He said that is “way, way up from where it was a couple years ago”.
The probe will also review the maintenance and repair programme for MTA cameras.
New York City Transit President Craig Cipriano said that officials from the NYPD inform the MTA of faulty cameras once a day and that they were aware of the faulty cameras before the shooting took place. He also said that repair technicians were working on the cameras when the attack started and they were required to evacuate before finishing the repairs.
The faulty cameras have been blamed for allowing suspect Frank James to escape the scene after he allegedly utilised smoke canisters and a 9mm Glock handgun to shoot 10 people on the New York City subway station on 12 April. Prosecutors say James wore a construction helmet and a yellow reflective vest as a disguise and then ditched them shortly after the attack.
James was arrested in Manhattan after a massive 24-hour manhunt in the city and its surrounding areas. Still, Lieber insists that the MTA camera system is “pretty amazing” and the camera failures did not prevent the NYPD from apprehending the suspect.
“There were… 36 separate video perspectives that they looked at on the day of the events, and many of those, we had several images of the suspect — getting on the train, getting off the train, riding a bus and so on”, Lieber said at a press conference via The Post.
Frank James was apprehended after calling the police himself after seeing his image on the news. He is currently being held without bail. All of the victims of the shooting are expected to survive their injuries.