NYC Subway Shooting Suspect With Ties To WI Arrested: Officials

MILWAUKEE, WI — A suspect in the subway attack that left 10 people shot Tuesday morning in Brooklyn was arrested Wednesday, authorities announced.

Frank Robert James will face a federal criminal charge that prohibits terrorist and other violent attacks against public transport, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in Wednesday's news conference.

James, 61, rented a U-Haul truck in Philadelphia that police said they believe could be connected to the Sunset Park subway mass shooting. Police said they recovered a key to that U-Haul from the scene of the shooting. Authorities on Tuesday first identified James as a "person of interest."

James has addresses in Philadelphia and Wisconsin, said James Essig, the NYPD's chief of detectives, during Tuesday's news conference.

The Milwaukee Police Department is not currently involved in any investigation related to James, a spokesperson for the agency told Patch Wednesday morning, and more information was not immediately available.

WISN 12 News reports seeing federal agents speaking to a man outside a home that was James' last known address in Milwaukee, and seeing a note taped to a mailbox with a note containing the name Frank James. The home was near North 6th Street and Clarke Street.

Patch has reached out to the Milwaukee FBI for more information.

A woman who told the New York Times she was a neighbor of James at his last known address in Milwaukee described him as "gruff," while another neighbor told the newspaper that James was "quiet."

A man by the name of Frank James also purchased fireworks from a store in Caledonia before Tuesday's shooting in Brooklyn, FOX 6 News reported.

The company, Phantom Fireworks, said they could not confirm it was the same James, but said in a news release someone of the same name from Milwaukee purchased fireworks in June 2021, according to the report. A bag of fireworks left at the scene of the shooting may have contained items similar to those sold by the Wisconsin store, according to the FOX 6 report.

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Brooklyn Subway Shooting Suspect: What To Know About Frank James

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Videos posted to social media accounts possibly associated with James appear to show the suspect, and NYPD circulated a photo of James that appears to be a screenshot from one of those videos. In those videos, the man claims a history of being in the mental health system in New York City.

In other videos posted to the account — there were hours of them, and the account has since been terminated — the man recites words on violence, bigoted views and conspiracy theories, at times ranging from 9/11, to hate directed toward the LGBTQ community and beyond. More on that here.

In one video posted on March 20, a man describes how he is heading to Philadelphia, leaving Wisconsin, without expecting to return, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Police said during Tuesday's news conference that the shooter in Tuesday's attack was sitting in a subway train car when it arrived at the 36th Street station in Brooklyn around 8:30 a.m. Essig said the attacker tossed smoke grenades onto the train's floor and fired his gun 33 times, hitting at least 10 people. Other people, 13 in total, also suffered injuries from smoke inhalation or from falling down or panic attacks, he said.

Patch Staff Kayla Levy, Gus Saltonstall and Matt Troutman contributed to reporting in this article.