NYC subway shooting suspect Frank R. James, now in custody, described violence in YouTube videos

Many of his rants included misogynistic and racist language.

ByDavid Shortell, Paul P. Murphy, Juan Alejandro Olarte-Cortes, Hannah Rabinowitz and Holmes Lybrand, CNN, CNNWire
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
Manhunt underway after 29 hurt in NYC subway shooting
Mike Marza reports from the scene of Tuesday's mass shooting, as the search intensifies for suspect Frank R. James.

NEW YORK -- The man identified Wednesday as a suspect in the New York subway shooting had talked about violence and mass shootings in videos posted on YouTube -- including one uploaded Monday.

Frank James, 62, was arrested Wednesday by patrol officers in New York City's East Village, police said.

LIVE UPDATES: NYC police search for gunman in Brooklyn subway shooting

Frank James, the man wanted for allegedly opening fire on a rush-hour subway train in Brooklyn, shooting 10 people, is in custody, sources told ABC News.

The New York City Police Department said James is the suspect behind a mass shooting Tuesday that left 10 people with gunshot wounds and 19 other people injured in Brooklyn.

Police believe none of the wounded have life-threatening injuries.

NYPD released several photos of James and asked anyone with information about where he might be to contact police.

Frank R. James, identified by police as the suspect in the Brooklyn subway shooting that injured 29 people Tuesday, is now in custody.

The NYPD believes James rented a U-Haul van whose keys were found at the scene of the shooting, it said.

James has been linked to rambling videos posted on a YouTube channel. A screenshot from one of the videos was used on an NYPD Crimestoppers flyer seeking information about the shooting, and in one video, he posts a City of New York ID card from a past educational training program.

In what appears to be his latest video posted Monday, James talks about times when he "wanted to kill people."

MORE: Witness says he feared NYC shooter was among crowd after escaping subway

Kenneth Foote-Smith spoke exclusively to ABC News about his experience witnessing the shooting while he was on the way to work Tuesday.

He described someone who engaged in violence and ended up in jail. He said he could identify but talked about the consequences.

James and his family didn't immediately respond to CNN's request for comment.

Videos include racist and misogynistic language

Many of the videos that James uploaded included references to violence, including at a set group of people he believed had maligned him, in addition to broad societal and racial groups that he appeared to hate.

In one video posted online in February, James criticized a plan by New York City Mayor Eric Adams' administration to address safety and homelessness in the subway in part through an expanded presence of mental health professionals.

In that racist and rambling recording, James said the new effort was "doomed to fail" and described his own negative experience with city health workers during a "crisis of mental health back in the '90s '80s and '70s."

SEE ALSO: What we know about Brooklyn subway shooting suspect Frank R. James

In a video posted last week, James, who is Black, rants about abuse in churches and racism in the workplace, using misogynistic and racist language.

That speech was a common theme throughout James' videos, in which he repeatedly espoused hatred toward African Americans.

In another video posted last month to the same channel, James said that he had post-traumatic stress. In that video, James said he left his home in Milwaukee on March 20. During the trip eastward, he said he was heading to the "danger zone."

Preliminary information indicated James mentioned homelessness, New York City and its mayor in online posts, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said Tuesday. As a result, she said the city would increase the mayor's security.

Police released two photos of James at a news conference Tuesday night, including one that appeared to be a screengrab from a YouTube video.

Keys belonging to a U-Haul that had been rented under James' name in Philadelphia were found among the shooter's possessions at the shooting scene in Brooklyn, the NYPD said.

The videos give insight into James' path to the Northeast. He arrived in Philadelphia March 25 after stops in Fort Wayne, Indiana; Pittsburgh; and Newark, New Jersey.

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