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The New York Police are asking for the help of the community as they intensify their operations to find the whereabouts of Frank James, identified as the alleged perpetrator of the shooting that left at least 23 people injured in a Brooklyn subway station, on Tuesday, March 12. april. Authorities are offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to his capture.
Frank James, a 62-year-old African American, is the man whom the United States authorities point to as the man behind the chaos unleashed inside a train, in the Brooklyn district, bound for Manhattan on April 12.
The alleged perpetrator of the shooting was identified by the Police based on eyewitness accounts, who described him as a man of robust constitution, wearing an orange vest, a gray hooded sweatshirt, a green helmet and a gas mask.
On 4/12/22 at 8:30 AM, Frank Robert James fired numerous gun shots inside an “N” line subway car at 36th St & 4th Ave subway station causing serious injuries to 10 people. Anyone with info about the incident or his whereabouts should contact him @NYPDTips or call 1-800-577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/MaeF16i4bX
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) April 13, 2022
James was first linked to the events after authorities found a U-Haul truck parked on a Brooklyn street. The individual is believed to have rented that vehicle in Philadelphia before traveling to the train station where he opened fire and threw smoke grenades.
Officers reported that they recovered the truck key at the crime scene and that James had registered residence addresses in both Philadelphia, about two hours from downtown New York City, and Wisconsin.
“We are going to continue to close the circle around him and bring him in, and continue the investigation of this horrible act against innocent New Yorkers,” said New York Mayor Eric Adams.
“I wanted to create terror and violence”
According to the investigations and the account of the witnesses, the attacker threw smoke grenades in a crowded subway car and then fired 33 shots indiscriminately with a Glock 9mm weapon. At least 23 people were injured, a dozen of them by firearms and the rest of the injured were treated for smoke inhalation and other injuries.
Five of the injured are in critical but stable condition, police said.
The authorities rule out that it is an act for terrorist purposes, but “it is clear that this individual wanted to create terror and violence (…) We know that he wanted to bring terror to the (subway) system with a gas mask, with a weapon, several chargers and launching a smoke bomb, ”said Adams.
Police in New York offered up to $50,000 for a ‘person of interest,’ as they mounted a manhunt for a shooter who set off two smoke bombs and opened fire in a subway car in a morning rush-hour attack, injuring more than 20 people https://t.co/pWWPB4CVMt pic.twitter.com/8q52m7qEua
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 13, 2022
Jordan Javier, a man who was at the scene, said he heard at least two explosions and saw smoke billowing from the car. “I am grateful to be alive,” he said.
As the train pulled into the 36th Street station in the Sunset Park neighborhood, people ran out and were directed to another train. Passengers wept and prayed as they drove away, he said.
The suspect released videos rejecting racism in the US.
Investigators examine a series of videos they found on social media linked to Frank James.
In the posts, the suspect criticized the United States as a racist place, awash in violence, and at times criticized New York Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat.
“This nation was born in violence, it is kept alive in violence or the threat of it, and it is going to die a violent death. There is nothing to stop that, “James would have assured in a video, according to Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell.
The officer described those messages as “worrying” and the authorities reinforced the security of Adams, who was already isolated after testing positive for Covid-19, last Sunday, April 10.
The consequences could be worse
Police sources assured the newspaper ‘The New York Post’ that after the alleged attacker fired 33 times, the semi-automatic pistol he was carrying got stuck. A situation that according to the authorities avoided a greater number of victims.
Investigators recovered the jammed gun and two extended magazines at the scene of the shooting, as well as detonated and unexploded smoke bombs.
Also, the officials indicated that at the scene they found three ammunition magazines, an axe, some fireworks, a gasoline container and the key to his rented truck.
Authorities are offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the alleged assailant.
With Reuters, AP and local media
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