The man suspected of setting off smoke bombs and spraying gunfire inside a New York City subway car, injuring 23 people, was arrested on Wednesday on a federal charge of violently attacking a mass transportation system, capping an around-the-clock manhunt.
Frank Robert James, 62, was taken into custody in lower Manhattan, about 8 miles from the scene of Tuesday’s assault, after authorities determined his whereabouts with the help of tips from residents, some of whom posted sightings on social media, police said.
James, a Bronx native with recent addresses in Philadelphia and Milwaukee, had nine prior arrests in New York and three in New Jersey, according to the New York Police Department.
A 10-page criminal complaint filed by federal prosecutors on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn charges James with a single count committing a terrorist or other violent attack against a mass transportation system. If convicted, he could face life in prison, officials said.
He was scheduled to make his first court appearance on Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn said.
James’ arrest came 30 hours after an attack that erupted during the morning commuter rush as the Manhattan-bound N line train was pulling into an underground station in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park community, renewing fears of violence in the city’s subway system.
In interviews, riders said they were upset by the highly unusual attack in which the man began shooting after setting off smoke canisters in a subway car, leaving 10 people with non-life-threatening wounds.
But even after several other outbursts of violence in stations this year, riders said they had workplaces, classes or homes to get to, and the city’s subway, one of the largest in the world, remained the most efficient way for them to travel.
“I was a little cautious but, hey, we’re back to normal,” said Matthew Mosk on an N train that had just passed through Brooklyn’s 36th Street station a day after one of its platforms had been smeared with the blood of wounded riders. “NYC strong. Just like it never happened.”
Older New Yorkers said the subway was far less menacing than when they were young and crime was rife on trains covered in graffiti. Newer arrivals to the city said it could stand to feel safer.
Most liked the idea of more police officers, though some wondered how much difference they could make.
Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain who took office in January, had already increased the number of police in the Transit Bureau to 3,500, exceeding the 3,250 officers sent to the system last summer in a surge by his predecessor. On Tuesday, Adams said he would temporarily double that number.
Officials at the state-controlled Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which runs the subway, say serious crimes remain relatively rare on the system, but riders report feeling less safe when stations and trains are emptier, particularly after reports of high-profile crimes.
Mass shootings on the subway like Tuesday’s are virtually unheard of, with New Yorkers reaching back to the 1980s for a comparable episode. As for other criminal activity, New York Police Department crime data shows a mixed picture since due to the pandemic, ridership is now about 60 percent of what it was two years ago.
In the first two months of 2022, major felonies on the subway were down to 383, from 524 in the first two months of 2020. Robberies were down to 110, compared to 151 in the same period in 2020; felony assaults were up to 87 from 76 in early 2020.
Before the pandemic, about 5.5 million subway trips were taken each weekday, but ridership plummeted in the first half of 2020 amid the pandemic. Many New Yorkers began working from home, as did suburban commuters. Tourists all but vanished.
The MTA, which has relied on train and bus fares and road tolls for about 40 percent of its revenue, has worked with Adams and his predecessor to encourage riders to return. Weekday ridership crossed back above 3 million trips last September, and there were an average 3.3 million rides each weekday last week.
