Brooklyn Subway Shooter James Likely Faces Life in Prison

By Yehudit Garmaise

Brooklyn subway shooter Frank James, who was just arrested after police officers caught sight of him from their patrol cars in the East Village in Manhattan, likely faces a sentence of up to life in prison as the FBI reported that his crime of violently attacking others on mass transit will be tried federally, law enforcement officials said at an NYPD press conference.

The police officers, who had received many tips from Crime-Spotters, including from the shooter himself, found James after following a trail of clues that led to him.

“Minutes ago, thankfully, the NYPD patrol officers from the 9th precinct responded to St. Mark’s and First Avenue, where they apprehended him without incident,” said an FBI official, about James, who was quickly handcuffed and taken into custody. “This case was quickly solved using technology, video canvassing, and then sending that information out to the public.”

Yesterday, just after James, who had nine prior arrests in NYC and many in NJ, as well, opened fire on subway passengers on a Manhattan-bound N train, the found video evidence of him, just prior to the incident: entering the Kings Highway subway station, with the same black cart that was later recovered on the crime scene.

The Kings Highway subway station is just three blocks away from where police found the U-Haul truck that James rented in Philadelphia.

The key to the U-Haul truck was recovered at the crime scene. James’ distinctive orange jacket and the construction helmet he was wearing, was also recovered in a garbage bin.

“We believe that after firing his weapon 33 times at innocent subway riders, Mr. James boarded an R train that had pulled into the station, before exiting one stop up at the 25th Street station, said the FBI agent, who added that the 9mm Glock handgun that police recovered at the scene was bought by James in Ohio in 2011.

“We tracked Mr. James at his last known whereabouts, which was 7th Avenue and 9th Street in Park Slope: entering the subway,” reported the FBI agent, who thanked the hundreds of detectives who have been out scouring the streets ever since to find him just 30 hours later.

Frank’s hateful motives will continue to be investigated, although many found that the shooter had previously posted online rants against Mayor Adams and homelessness on youtube. Officials said today, “their first and foremost priority was to get Frank off the street.”

Photo: Flickr