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Person of interest in Brooklyn subway shooting rented U-Haul van in Philadelphia, police say

Frank R. James, who police said has ties to Philadelphia and Wisconsin, was identified as the renter of the van and a person of interest in the shooting.

Emergency personnel form a perimeter around a U-Haul van during an ongoing investigation in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Tuesday. Multiple people were shot and injured Tuesday at a subway station in New York City during a morning rush hour attack that left wounded commuters bleeding on a train platform. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Emergency personnel form a perimeter around a U-Haul van during an ongoing investigation in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Tuesday. Multiple people were shot and injured Tuesday at a subway station in New York City during a morning rush hour attack that left wounded commuters bleeding on a train platform. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)Read moreJohn Minchillo / AP
    by Robert Moran
    Updated 
    Published 

» UPDATE: Frank R. James has been arrested by New York police in connection with Tuesday’s subway shooting

New York police said Tuesday night that a U-Haul van linked to the gunman who shot at least 10 people on a rush-hour subway train in Brooklyn was rented in Philadelphia and they were looking for a 62-year-old man for questioning.

The New York Police Department said a U-Haul key found at the scene of the shooting led to the discovery of the van in Brooklyn, and identified the renter of the van as Frank R. James, 62, who has addresses in Philadelphia and Wisconsin. James was being sought for questioning as a person of interest and was not identified as the suspect.

New York police said 10 people were shot and 13 others required medical attention after a gunman at 8:24 a.m. fired 33 shots and discharged smoke canisters on a Manhattan-bound train. Police recovered a semiautomatic handgun at the scene, as well as three extended magazines, a hatchet, fireworks, and gasoline.

» READ MORE: NYPD locates van sought in Brooklyn subway shooting

The New York Post reported that sources told the news outlet that detectives had found a credit card at the scene that they suspected belonged to the shooter, and one of the charges racked up on it is for a U-Haul rental out of Philadelphia.

The gunfire erupted on a train that pulled into a station in the Sunset Park neighborhood, about a 15-minute ride from Manhattan and predominantly home to Hispanic and Asian communities.

New York Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said that the attack was not being investigated as terrorism but that she was “not ruling out anything.” The shooter’s motive was unknown.

Televised images of the U-Haul van showed lettering on the side that said “Allegheny West Moving and Storage,” which has an address on Hunting Park Avenue in the Nicetown section of Philadelphia, and a phone number with a local area code.

A spokesperson for U-Haul emailed a company statement that said: “Law enforcement has alerted us to its search for a rental van and its possible connection to a suspect in today’s incident in New York City. We are working closely with authorities to ensure they have any and all available information to meet their needs.”

The NYPD released two images of James, including one that appears to come from a YouTube channel featuring numerous rants, especially about race and violence.

The New York Times reported that two enforcement officials said that it was James on the videos.

In one video, it appears that James is directly criticizing New York Mayor Eric Adams for recent policies regarding public safety in the subways.

In a 2019 video, he recalls living in Philadelphia around 2007 and 2008. “I like that city, and I can’t explain to you why,” he says.

Staff writer Patricia Madej and The Associated Press contributed to this report.