What you should know
The man who fired multiple shots inside a New York City subway and wounded 10 people in Brooklyn will be sentenced Thursday. An attack that sparked a city-wide chase after he fled and moments of terror.Frank James, 64, pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in the April 12, 2022 shooting aboard a train bound for Manhattan, in the Sunset Park neighborhood. Prosecutors asked for a life sentence, arguing that James spent years carefully planning the shooting to “inflict maximum damage.” The gunman’s lawyers asked for a reduced sentence of 18 years, saying James had no intention of killing anyone and was severely mentally ill.
The man who fired multiple shots inside a New York City subway and wounded 10 people in Brooklyn will be sentenced Thursday. An attack that sparked a city-wide manhunt after he fled and moments of terror.
Frank James, 64, pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in the April 12, 2022, shooting aboard a Manhattan-bound train in the Sunset Park neighborhood.
Prosecutors asked for a life sentence, arguing that James spent years carefully planning the shooting to “inflict maximum harm.”
The gunman’s lawyers asked for a reduced sentence of 18 years, saying James had no intention of killing anyone and was severely mentally ill.
IN DETAILS: THE SHOOTING AND THE SEARCH FOR THE SUSPECT
James dressed as a construction worker and waited inside the train until it was stopped between stations so that the passengers would not have a chance to flee. He then lit multiple smoke bombs and unleashed a volley of bullets from a 9mm pistol at the passengers. Train users experienced moments of terror inside the crowded car.
The attack injured victims ranging in age from 16 to 60 as the train arrived at a station in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
While emergency services treated the victims, James calmly walked out of the tube station and disappeared. The search for the gunman lasted approximately 30 hours.
Police identified James as a suspect relatively quickly, using the key to a rented moving van left in the bloodied subway car. He was eventually arrested in Manhattan’s East Village after calling a police tip line to turn himself in.
“The fact that no one died following the defendant’s 32 shots can only be described as luck and not an intentional choice by the defendant,” Brooklyn prosecutors wrote in a memo to U.S. District Judge William Kuntz.
The attack surprised New Yorkers, anxiety increased about safety in the transit system and led local officials to add surveillance cameras and additional police to the trains.
FRANK JAMES BACKGROUND
Before the shooting, James, who is Black, posted dozens of videos online under the nickname “Prophet of Doom,” ranting about race, violence, his struggle with mental illness and a host of unnamed forces he said him, they were behind him.
In a 2019 video, James alluded to a pending conflict in his hometown and stated that “what happens with me in New York is going to be very interesting.” At that point, prosecutors allege, James was already in the process of planning the subway shooting.
When James pleaded guilty to terrorism charges earlier this year, he said he only intended to cause serious bodily injury, not death.
His lawyer, Mia Eisne-Grynberg, suggested that while James may have initially planned to kill people, he changed his mind in the heat of the moment.
“In a society where, sadly, we learn almost every day that shooters who intend to kill easily achieve their goals, it is much more likely that Mr. James lacked that specific intent than that he simply failed in his mission,” Eisner said . Grynberg wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
Referring to the defendant’s abusive childhood in the Bronx and his ongoing struggles with alcoholism and paranoid schizophrenia, he added: “Mr. James is not bad. He is very, very sick.”
Prosecutors, however, say the trajectory of the bullets shows James targeted the cyclists’ “center of mass” to achieve maximum lethality. They say James only stopped firing his Glock semi-automatic pistol because he jammed.
JAMES CONVICTION
James has spent the last 17 months held at the Metropolitan Detention Center without bail. He was previously forced to appear in court after refusing to leave his cell. On Tuesday, Judge Kuntz said U.S. Marshals should use all necessary force to present James for sentencing.
2023-10-05 13:27:31
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