Status: 04/14/2022 08:32 a.m
–
–
–
After the shots in a New York subway with numerous injuries, the police arrested the alleged perpetrator. The decisive clue apparently came from the man himself. He faces life imprisonment.
By Peter Mücke, ARD Studio New York
–
–
–
–
The police had been looking for the alleged perpetrator for more than 24 hours. Hundreds of officers were deployed. But in the end, the 62-year-old apparently gave the decisive clue himself. Even if the New York police chief Keechant Sewell initially did not want to confirm.
–
–
–
One person called Crimestoppers, a special police hotline. Who that was is still being checked, according to Sewell. However, several media reports, citing high-ranking officials, that it was the alleged perpetrator himself who came forward to say that he was staying at a McDonald’s in Manhattan’s East Village.
“When the tip came, officers drove there immediately. But the man wasn’t there. They then drove around the area, quickly spotted him on the street and arrested him,” says John Miller of the New York Police Department NYPD. The man offered no resistance.
Suspect has multiple criminal records
TV pictures show how the almost apathetic Frank J. is put in a patrol car by officers. He was initially only wanted as a “person of interest”, but was later declared a suspect.
“His criminal record in New York includes nine arrests between 1992 and 1998 for possession of stolen property and sex offenses,” said James Essig of the New York City Police Department. In addition, there were three other arrests in New Jersey between 1991 and 2007 for burglary and disturbance of public order – all rather minor penalties.
Motive still unclear
Investigators are still puzzling over the man’s motive for detonating two smoke bombs in a crowded subway car in Brooklyn on Tuesday morning and then firing at least 33 shots with a handgun.
“First and foremost, we wanted to get this guy off the streets before he could cause another bloodbath in the city,” said police officer Essig. “As for motive, we’re still investigating his social media posts. But that’s under investigation.”
Police at the crime scene in New York
Image: AFP
–
–
Confused statements in Internet videos
The man had uploaded dozens of videos to the Internet, in which he sometimes made confused comments about racism, homelessness and gun violence. In a video, he describes being in psychiatric treatment and a victim of emotional violence himself. In another, he criticized New York Mayor Eric Adams’ policy of evicting the homeless from the subway. As a result, the police protection of the mayor was increased.
The alleged perpetrator is to be brought before a judge in Brooklyn today, says the responsible prosecutor Breon Peace: “The charge is ‘terrorist or other violent attack on local public transport'”. If convicted, he faces a life sentence.
No indication of terrorist motive
There is no evidence that the man has any connection to a terrorist organization. But the investigations continued. The man was targeted by investigators because he had rented a pickup truck in Philadelphia, the key to which was found in a subway station along with the gun and other belongings of the perpetrator.
After the shots, he managed to escape by using the resulting chaos to continue on another subway. There the trail of the man was lost – until he apparently led the investigators to himself.
Suspected New York subway bomber arrested
Peter Mücke, ARD New York, April 14, 2022 5:56 a.m
–
–
–
