Five help cops to arrest Brooklyn subway shooting suspect

Five people have helped the NYPD police to apprehend a 62-year-old man, suspected to have carried out the arrest of the Brooklyn subway shooting.

Twenty-nine people were sent to hospitals, including the 10 who were shot and 19 others who suffered injuries mostly related to smoke inhalation
Twenty-nine people were sent to hospitals, including the 10 who were shot and 19 others who suffered injuries mostly related to smoke inhalation. Photo: Connected to India

All these people will now be sharing a combined $50,000 reward for providing the “critical information” to the cops.

The man authorities say was the shooter, Frank James, 62, was denied bail in court Thursday and did not enter a plea on charges of violating a law that prohibits terrorism and violent attacks on mass transportation. 

He was arrested a day earlier in Manhattan's East Village after calling in a tip to police; hours earlier, a teenager had called Crime Stoppers to report seeing him.

The information provided by the five individuals "contributed directly" to James' arrest, police said, but did not offer more details.

"The public is who we serve, but they are also often our best partner," NYPD Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said in a statement. 

"We appreciate all of those who responded to our call for information to locate this suspect, including all of those whose tips did not pan out."

Police say James boarded a train during Tuesday morning's rush in Brooklyn, set off smoke grenades and fired a gun 33 times, shooting 10 people.

Twenty-nine people were sent to hospitals, including the 10 who were shot and 19 others who suffered injuries mostly related to smoke inhalation, falling down or having a panic attack, officials said. 

While officials have not released a motive for one of the most violent attacks to occur on the city's subway system, they have pointed to YouTube videos in which James shares his views on violence, mass shootings and mental health.

Smoke, bangs, then blood and panic: Riders describe being inside the subway car where 10 were shot

James, who is Black, says in the videos that he suffered from post-traumatic stress and supported hatred of African-Americans and other people he believed had maligned him. In a video posted in February, he criticises a plan by New York Mayor Eric Adams' administration to address safety and homelessness in the subway, saying it was "doomed to fail".

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On Friday, the mayor said officials are using the shooting as a "case study" to see what can be done differently for mental health programmes.

"We're looking at people who are stating that they're dealing with mental health issues right now, and so we have to get it right," Adams said at a news conference. "This is generational, in the making, a broken system, but we need help also on a state level and on a federal level."

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