New York subway shooting suspect arrested: Frank James himself was one of several tipsters

Mr James faces life behind bars for firing 33 shots on a packed subway carriage during the morning rush hour

New York City police officers take Brooklyn subway shooting suspect James Frank into custody. Photo: NYPD

Police in New York arrested Frank James on Wednesday afternoon after a 30-hour manhunt following the mass shooting on a Brooklyn Subway station that left more than a dozen people injured.

"Less than 30 hours later, we're able to say: 'We got him'," New York City's Mayor Eric Adams told reporters.

Mr James was arrested in Manhattan's East Village after police received several tip-off phone calls in the East Village neighbourhood of Manhattan, including one that officers believe was Mr James himself.

Police said that Mr James was one of the tipsters because a caller to a city police hotline identified himself as the suspect, a law enforcement source involved in the investigation told The National.

Mr James will be charged in Brooklyn for committing a terrorist or violent attack on mass transit and faces life behind bars, an official said.

The shooting took place during the Tuesday morning rush hour as a Manhattan-bound train pulled into a station in Brooklyn's Sunset Park area.

The 62-year-old is accused of firing a Glock 9 mm handgun 33 times before it jammed.

Ten passengers were wounded, and 13 others were injured in a panicked crush to exit the smoke-filled carriage.

"We hope this arrest brings some solace to the victims and the people of the city of New York," said Keechant Sewell, the city's police commissioner.

Detectives identified Mr James as a suspect after he left the key for a rental van at the scene of the shooting, which he had hired to travel up to New York.

"We were able to shrink his world quickly. There was nowhere left for him to run," said Ms Sewell.

Police are still trying to establish a motive for the attack, but Mr James posted angry videos of himself on social media angrily discussing New York policies on public safety, homelessness and transport.

A local emergency alert notifying New Yorkers about the police manhunt was sent to people's mobile phones early on Wednesday. A law enforcement source involved in the investigation told The National that sending out multiple photographs of him as soon as possible helped the search.

Mr James has a criminal record stretching back to the early 1990s in New York and New Jersey for everything from trespass to larceny and a criminal sex act, officers said.

The attack was the latest burst of violence that has plagued America's largest city's transit system and posed challenges for the mayor, who seeks to halt declining passenger numbers from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Asked if Mr James acted alone, Mr Adams told Fox News that a preliminary investigation did not turn up an additional person.

Officials say Mr James rented the van in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and parked it on a Brooklyn street near the 36th Street station where the incident unfolded. Police offered rewards totalling $50,000 for information leading to his arrest.

Holly Aguirre contributed to this report