Report: Frank James Called Crime Stoppers on Himself

He faces federal terrorism charge
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 13, 2022 6:50 PM CDT
Report: Frank James Called Crime Stoppers on Himself
Police lead subway shooting suspect Frank R. James, 62, away from a police station in New York, Wednesday, April 13, 2022.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The call to a tip line that led to the arrest of New York City mass shooting suspect Frank James came from somebody who definitely won't be able to collect the $50,000 reward, law enforcement sources tell the AP and NBC New York. The sources say it was apparently James himself who called the Crime Stoppers line from a McDonald's on Manhattan's Lower East Side on Wednesday afternoon and told police to come and collect him. "This is Frank. You guys are looking for me ... my phone is about to die," the 62-year-old suspect said, per NBC's sources.

Police say James wasn't at the McDonald's, but they found him nearby after driving around the neighborhood and took him into custody. Zack Tahhan tells ABC7 that he alerted officers after seeing James walking casually down the street. "I told the police, 'This is the guy, he did the problem in Brooklyn, this guy, catch him, guys, catch him,'" Tahhan says. "And they catch him, thank God, we catch him." Police say James, who is accused of opening fire on a subway train in Brooklyn, leaving 29 people hospitalized with gunshot wounds and other injuries, did not resist as he was taken into custody.

The arrest came 30 hours after the subway attack, and police say they don't know where James was during that time, though use of his Metrocard suggests that he was riding the subway on Tuesday night. Investigators say that he apparently escaped on a subway train immediately after the attack and got out after one stop. He has been charged with committing a terrorist act on a mass transit system, a federal offense that could send him to prison for the rest of his life, the New York Times reports. (More New York City subway stories.)

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