New York breathes a sigh of relief. Frank James, 62, the perpetrator of the subway shooting has been arrested, after a manhunt that lasted more than 24 hours and involved thousands of police. The man was taken in Manhattan walking the streets of East Village as if nothing had happened. According to an initial rebuild, two agents identify him by blocking him without James offering any resistance. He is now accused of terrorism and risks spending the rest of his life in prison. However, the news does not erase the anger and frustration of citizens and passengers in the Big Apple. The shock of what happened left room for indignation.
Many wonder how it could have taken so long to catch such a dangerous man in a highly guarded city like New York. One wonders, among other things, how it is possible that the surveillance cameras at the Sunset Park subway station in Brooklyn were not working on the day of the abortive massacre. And so it ends up in the crosshairs of public opinion with Mayor Eric Adams, a former policeman, who won the election by promising that New York would be safer, beginning with the subway system, the backbone of public transportation in the capital. Forced into isolation due to Covid, Adams is in these hours affirming his firm commitment against the wave of violence in the city and presumably introducing systems similar to metal detectors to control entrances to subway stations, to ensure that no one can enter with a weapon.
However, this premise does not seem to adequately meet the growing need for security, with the historic subway scene of dozens of criminal incidents since the beginning of the year. Then the mayor ensured a greater police presence and confirmed that he wanted to combat the phenomenon of homeless people using subway cars as their shelter. Initiatives that have not achieved the desired results so far and that have caused a barrage of controversy against an administration deemed incapable of addressing the problem. James lost his track for more than 24 hours, and managed to escape from a formidable group of troops deployed to capture him. While some of the wounded have already left the hospital, police have examined James’s online work and video footage filmed by researchers as to what motivated him to attempt the massacre. Detectives worked all night looking for the Sunset Park subway station on 36th Street in Brooklyn inch by inch and hearing all the witnesses. The truck he rented in Philadelphia was found a few blocks from the scene of the attack. A bag with bullets, an axe and fireworks, as well as a used credit card and truck keys were found on the subway platform. Police said the 62-year-old rode the metro “with the intent of committing violent acts”. “Fortunately, the death toll was no worse,” added law enforcement, referring to the 33 rounds fired and the fact that the pistol, a 9mm Glock purchased in Ohio, malfunctioned. In some videos posted on social networks, James indicates his desire for violence and murder even though he does not want to end up in prison. He posted pictures of firearms and described himself as someone with PTSD-related psychological issues. In one of the passages the man speaks of himself as a “prophet of perdition.” There was a $50,000 reward for information that could lead to his arrest.
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