Live updates: Brooklyn subway shooting suspect is still at large (2024)

Suspected Brooklyn subway shooter Frank James was arrested today in New York's East Village neighborhood, officials say, after police received a tip.

James was arrested after an intensive manhunt after authorities recovered a U-Haul van in Brooklyn, which officials believed was rented by the suspect after keys were found at the scene. The shooter's motive is still unknown, officials say.

James has so far been charged with violating a law that prohibits terrorist and other violent attacks against a mass transportation system, according to the US attorney for the Eastern District of New York. He will be arraigned in federal court.

Ten people were shot at a Brooklyn subway station Tuesday, officials said. Authorities said the suspect put on a gas mask, deployed a gas canister and then began shooting, firing at least 33 times.

If you're catching up, here's what else you need to know about today's developments in the Brooklyn subway shooting:

Shooting suspect Frank James will have his initial court appearance on Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn, according to John Marzulli, spokesperson for the US attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York.

The timing for the court appearance will be confirmed Thursday morning, Marzulli said.

James is now in federal custody. CNN has reached out to his federal defender,Mia Eisner-Grynberg, for comment.

The suspect in the Brooklyn subway shooting called in a tip to Crime Stoppers that led to his capture, two law enforcement sources tell CNN.

Frank James called in the tip to the police and told them he was at a McDonald’s on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the sources confirmed.

At an earlier news conference Wednesday, an NYPD official said the tip indicated the suspect was at a McDonald's on 6th Street and 1st Avenue.

Police responded to the McDonald's and did not find James, the police official said.

But upon driving around they spotted him on the corner of St. Marks Place and 1st Avenue and arrested him, officials said at the news conference.

The Glock 17 that authorities found at the scene of the Brooklyn subway shooting had scratch marks on its serial number, according to a court document.

A complaint against suspected Brooklyn subway shooter Frank James shows a photo of the Glock pistol with scratches over two areas where a serial number appears, and prosecutors said they believe the marks "appear to reflect that an attempt was made to deface the serial number."

Prosecutors said in the complaint that they believe the gun was purchased lawfully in Ohio by a man named Frank Robert James, and that it was used in the shooting.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she's "deeply grateful" that the suspected Brooklyn subway shooter was arrested and is directing state agencies to assist in the investigation, in a statement Wednesday.

The statement continued, "My heart is with all those who are injured, their loved ones, and the entire Sunset Park community.The epidemic of gun violence that continues to terrorize communities across this country must end. My pledge to New Yorkers is this: I will fight every day torestore public safety,get guns off our streets,and prevent these horrific acts of violence."

Brooklyn subway shooting suspect Frank James documented his travel from Wisconsin to the northeast over a series of YouTube videos posted in recent weeks.

In a video uploaded on March 20, James said that he had left Milwaukee — authorities have said he is associated with addresses in Wisconsin — and was spending the night in a Fort Wayne, Indiana, hotel.

"Just on the drive man I'm just thinking because I'm heading back into the danger zone so to speak," he said in that video. "You know, it is triggering a lot of negative thoughts of course because I do suffer, I have a bad severe case of post-traumatic stress after the sh*t I've been through all the f***ing years man."

James indicated that he was transporting all his belongings in the van and that he would be storing some of them in a Philadelphia-area storage unit. Although James said that Philadelphia was his final destination, he said that the Penske truck he rented needed to be dropped off in Newark, New Jersey.

CNN reached out to Penske, who would not confirm that James rented a van, but did say they had reached out to the FBI to assist in their investigation.

After the night in Fort Wayne, James continued east and made his way to Pittsburgh, where he said in a video uploaded on March 21 that he was staying in a hotel near the Pittsburgh International Airport.

The next night, in another video, James said that he had gotten a hotel near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

In that video, he is seen drinking whiskey and later, begins to show signs of intoxication. Towards the end of the video, he begins slurring his words and at one point, he says he is falling asleep.

He said that he had recently stopped drinking because it gave him "the shakes."

Around March 25, James uploaded a video claiming that he had made it to the Philadelphia area. It's unclear where James was between March 22 and March 25 based on the videos.

In that March 25 video, James said he was staying in a Best Western hotel in Bordentown, New Jersey. He also gave his room number and a small tour of the room.

James is also seen drinking in that video.

“Alright, so I tried to get high by dragging some Jim Beam a little earlier to make this video," he said. "Want to be high to make this video because I felt that I couldn't really — I seem to do my best work when I'm high."

James also said that he was last in New York "a few years ago.

In the video, James also mentions that he would be staying in the hotel until March 28, when he would move to other lodging inside Philadelphia.

The videos have since been removed by YouTube.

CNN has confirmed that James rented a short-term rental apartment on West Ontario Street in Philadelphia. A neighbor identified James to CNN, saying that James was at the apartment last week seen taking boxes out of a U-Haul truck.

The neighbor also told CNN that law enforcement recently searched the apartment.

In a criminal complaint unsealed after James was taken into custody, prosecutors alleged that James did in fact rent an apartment and a storage unit in Philadelphia. Records from rideshare operator Lyft indicate that he visited the facility on April 11 on 6:17 p.m. ET, according to the complaint.

Those records also indicate that James ordered approximately 21 rides to and from the apartment from March 28 and April 10. CNN has reached out to the management company for the Philadelphia apartment for comment but has not yet received a response.

According to the complaint, records from the apartment management company indicate James rented the apartment for at least 15 days.

James did not mention any plans to visit the New York area or convey any concrete plans that he was planning a shooting in the videos that CNN has reviewed.

CNN has previously reported that on April 6, James made a reservation to pick up a U-Haul van on April 11 in Philadelphia, according to documentation of the transaction.

At 4 a.m. ET Tuesday, just hours before the attack, James drove the U-Haul van into Brooklyn from Staten Island across the Verrazzano bridge, CNN has reported.

James was taken into custody on Manhattan's Lower East Side on Wednesday afternoon around 2 p.m. ET.

CNN has obtained new video showing the arrest of subway shooting suspect Frank James.

Officials said James was arrested without incident by patrol officers on the street in New York's East Village neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon after police got a tip on its Crime Stoppers hotline.

The video shows James in handcuffs being escorted by two police officers in the street.

Watch the video here:

YouTube confirmed on Wednesday that it removed an account that appeared to be from Brooklyn subway shooting suspect Frank James.

James,who was arrested on Thursday as a suspect in theNew York subway shooting, had talked about violence and mass shootings in videos posted on the social media platform — including one uploaded Monday.

Malon went on to say that YouTube’s systems are “prominently surfacing videos from authoritative sources in search and recommendations.”

New York City Police Department Chief of Detectives James Essig detailed what suspect Frank James did after shooting at passengers on a Brooklyn subway on Tuesday.

The official also noted that the construction helmet James was wearing was recovered in a garbage bin.

Essig said officials then tracked James' location before he was arrested.

"We tracked Mr. James, and hislast known whereabouts was 7thAvenue and 9th Street in Park Slope, entering the subway.Minutes ago, thankfully, NYPDpatrol officers from the 9thPrecinct responded to St. Marks [Place]and First Avenue, where theyapprehended him withoutincident," Essig said, noting that the suspect was in Park Slope at about 9:15 a.m. ET yesterday.

Kenneth Corey, the NYPD chief of department, described how the arrest unfolded today, explaining that investigators got a CrimeStoppers tip that the suspect was in a McDonald's at 6th Street and First Avenue in the East Village.

"Officers respond to theMcDonald's. He's not in the McDonald's.They start driving around theneighborhood looking for him, they see him on the corner of St.Marks [Place] and First [Avenue] and they take him into custody," he said.

The case was quickly solved using technology and video canvassing, he added. He also thanked federal and regional partners.