Brooklyn shooting update: Frank James ordered to be held behind bars in first federal court appearance

A social media user posted photos believed to be of shooting suspect Frank James on Twitter at around 10.30am on Wednesday morning - in a post that NYPD Crimestoppers responded to soon after.

“Possible frank james sighting?” wrote Twitter user @jackson124912. along with two images of a man in black trousers, hooded sweatshirt, face mask and a baseball cap on backwards.

“Hello, where was the last time you saw this individual?” responded NYPD Crimestoppers.

“Canal street in front of cervos,” the Twitter user replied.

The NYPD press conference is about to start.

Watch here:

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced at a press conference the arrest of Frank Robert James.

“My fellow New Yorkers we got him, we got him,” he said.

Shooting suspect Frank James was arrested “in response to a Crime stoppers tip”, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell confirmed in Wednesday’s press conference.

“Moments ago Frank Robert James was stopped on the street and arrested by members of the New York City police department,” she said.

The suspect was located at 1.42pm on the corner of St. Mark’s Place and First Avenue in Manhattan and taken into custody without incident.

Frank Robert James faces a federal terrorism charge over the mass shooting on a Brooklyn subway station on Tuesday morning.

Officials said that the suspected gunman will be charged with carrying out a terrorist attack on mass transit after allegedly carrying out “yesterday’s appalling crime in Brooklyn”.

NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig revealed that Frank Robert James has a long rap sheet in New York City dating back three decades.

Mr James has nine prior arrests in New York dating from 1992 to 1998 and was “known to us”, Mr Essig said.

The arrests included: four for possession of burglary tools, two for theft of service, one for a criminal sex act, one for criminal tampering and one arrest for an outstanding New Jersey warrant.

In New Jersey, Mr James has three prior arrests in 1991, 1992 and 2007 for trespassing, larceny and disorderly conduct.

Alleged gunman Frank Robert James was not known to the FBI before Tuesday’s shooting, officials said on Wednesday.

Newsweek reported on Tuesday that the shooter was on the FBI’s terrorist radar in New Mexico but had been cleared in 2019 following “multiple interviews”.

During Wednesday’s press conference, FBI officials poured cold water on that report.

“There has been some reports that FBI holdings to date had a tie to Mr James,” he said.

“I want to be very clear that to date we have found no record of an investigation of Frank R James by an FBI office before the shooting yesterday.

“Reports that FBI New Mexico office previously investiagteed him are inaccurate.”

Frank Robert James faces life in prison after he was slapped with one federal charge of terrorism in New York on Wednesday.

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace announced that Mr James, 62, has been charged in Brooklyn Federal Court with one count of carrying out a terrorism attack on mass transit.

“Yesterday was a dark day for all of us. But the bright spots of the incredible heroism of our fellow New Yorkers helping each other in a time of crisis, the quick response by our first responders, and the hard work by all of our law enforcement partners that has been ongoing truly shines bright,” Mr Peace said in a statement.

The federal prosecutor said the federal charge stems from evidence that Mr James crossed state lines - and brought weapons with him - to carry out an act of terror on New York City’s subway system.

“My office is prepared to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that: On April 12, 2022, in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, in the Eastern District of New York, the defendant Frank James did knowingly and without lawful authority and permission commit an act, including the use of a dangerous weapon, with the intent to cause death and serious bodily injury to passengers and MTA employees on the New York City subway system,” the statement read. 

“The government will prove, among other things, that James traveled across state line in order to commit the offense and transported materials across a state line in aid of the commission of the offense.

“We are working closely with all of our law enforcement partners at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, FBI, and NYPD. My office will use every tool at our disposal to bring this individual to justice, and restore safety and peace of mind to all.”

The charge comes after NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell initially said on Tuesday morning that the mass shooting was not being treated as an act of terrorism.

Watch the video of the moment Frank James was arrested in Manhattan:

Suspected shooter Frank James boarded a subway to the next station after firing 33 shots at New Yorkers inside a busy commuter train, according to police.

NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said that “after firing his weapon 33 times at innocent New York City subway riders, Mr James boarded an R train that had pulled into the station, went one stop up and exited at the 25th Street station”.

The police chief said investigators have images as evidence of this.

The 9mm Glock handgun used in the shooting, together with Mr James’ orange construction jacket and the keys to the rented U-Haul van were recovered from the scene, he said.

The yellow hard hat he was seen wearing was also found in a garbage bin.