The New York Police on Wednesday identified 62-year-old Frank James as a “person of interest” in connection with the shooting at a subway station in Brooklyn on Tuesday that left 23 people injured, The New York Times reported.
The police identify someone as a “person of interest” when they believe the individual might have information related to a crime.
Of those injured, ten sustained bullet injuries. The shooting took place at the 36th Street subway station at Sunset Park in New York’s Brooklyn area around 8.30 am local time on Tuesday.
As a train pulled into the subway station and its doors opened, the gunman threw a smoke bomb on the floor and began shooting at commuters on the platform. The police said that the shooter was wearing a gas mask and an orange construction vest.
At a press briefing on Tuesday, New York Police Department Commissioner Keechant Sewell said the gunman was believed to have acted alone and immediately fled the crime scene, Reuters reported. Sewell said that the police located a van in Brooklyn that they believed was connected to the shooting, and that it had been rented by James.
“The incident is not being investigated as an act of terrorism but the police department is not ruling it out,” the police commissioner said, according to Bloomberg. “A motive isn’t yet known.”
United States President Joe Biden said that authorities will continue to investigate until the perpetrator was found.
“We are going to continue to stay in close contact with New York authorities as we learn more about the situation over the coming hours and days,” Biden said while addressing an event in Iowa, according to The Guardian.
Online activity of Frank James
Meanwhile, Frank James, who has been identified as a “person of interest” had posted videos on social media criticising the policies of New York City’s mayor Eric Adams related to crimes on the subway, The New York Times reported.
“He [Eric Adams] can’t stop no crime in no subways,” the man can be heard saying in the videos, using multiple expletives, according to Newsweek. “He may slow it down but he ain’t stopping it.”
In one of the videos, James also claimed that he was a mental health patient at a clinic in New York. James said that he had gone to the institute to seek help, but instead left with more problems.
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