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Update, April 13, 9:18 a.m. EST: Police now say Frank James is not just a person of interest, but a suspect in the shooting.
Police identified a person of interest in the shooting on Brooklyn subway train, in which a gunman injured more than a dozen people before fleeing the scene.
The NYPD named 62-year-old Frank James, who has addresses in Philadelphia and Wisconsin, as a person of interest in the shooting, and asked anyone with information on his location to call 1-800-577-TIPS.
This is Frank James. He is a person of interest in the shooting that took place on the N train in Brooklyn Tuesday morning. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call @NYPDTips at 1-800-577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/vSYb5UIu2k
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) April 12, 2022
At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
“We have no one in custody at this time,” police told reporters at the press conference.
The shooter was on a northbound N train at the 36th Street Station in Sunset Park around 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning when he put on a gas mask and set off a canister that filled the subway car with smoke. He then opened fire on commuters, shooting 33 times and hitting people on the train as well as on the platform.
At least 16 people were injured in the attack, but police said none of the injuries were life-threatening. Police said they believed the suspect detonated smoke bombs at the scene, but no active explosive devices were found.
According to the Associated Press, cops on Tuesday afternoon found a U-Haul van with an Arizona license plate believed to be connected to the gunman. This van was reportedly empty.
U-Haul issued a statement on the developing situation: “Law enforcement has alerted us to its search for a rental van and its possible connection to a suspect in today’s incident in New York City. We are working closely with authorities to ensure they have any and all available information to meet their needs.”
After the shooting, disturbing footage was uploaded to social media, which showed commuters fleeing the smoke-filled train onto a platform, some of them bleeding heavily from gunshot wounds. Passengers huddled around the injured to lend assistance before paramedics arrived at the scene.
The story is developing and will be updated.
