A man with Philadelphia connections who was initially a person of interest in the investigation into a shooting on a rush-hour subway train in Brooklyn, New York, is now considered the suspect in the rampage, Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday morning. Ten people were shot and wounded in the attack, and over a dozen more suffered other injuries.
New York City police are still searching for 62-year-old Frank James. Authorities said James has addresses in Philadelphia and Wisconsin.
“At this time, based on the preliminary investigation, we believe he was alone,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams told George Stephanopoulos in an interview Wednesday.
Police said the suspect had rented a U-Haul van possibly connected to the violence. The key to the van and a credit card, which law enforcement sources say was used to rent a U-Haul, were among the gunman’s possessions recovered from the scene of the shooting. James had rented the same van in Philadelphia, according to police.
There is a $50,000 reward for information leading to his whereabouts.
Investigators were examining social media videos in which James decried the United States as a racist place awash in violence and sometimes railed against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
“This nation was born in violence, it’s kept alive by violence or the threat thereof and it’s going to die a violent death. There’s nothing going to stop that,” James said in a video.
In one video, posted a day before the attack, he criticizes crime against Black people and says drastic action is needed.
“You got kids going in here now taking machine guns and mowing down innocent people,” James said. “It’s not going to get better until we make it better,” he added, saying things would only change if certain people were “stomped, kicked and tortured” out of their “comfort zone.”
Several videos mention New York’s subways. New York City Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell called the posts “concerning” and officials tightened security for Adams, who was already isolating following a positive COVID-19 test Sunday.
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