New York subway attack suspect tipped off cops to his location
NEW YORK (AP) - The man accused of shooting 10 people on a Brooklyn subway train was arrested Wednesday and charged with a federal terrorism offense after the suspect himself called police to come get him, law enforcement officials said.
Frank R. James, 62, was taken into custody about 30 hours after the carnage on a rush-hour train, which left five victims in critical condition and people around the city on edge.
James was awaiting arraignment on a charge that pertains to terrorist or other violent attacks against mass transit systems and carries a sentence of up to life in prison, Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said.
It wasn't immediately clear whether James, who is from New York but has lived recently in Philadelphia and Milwaukee, has an attorney or anyone else who can speak for him. A sign taped to the door of James' Milwaukee apartment asks that all mail be delivered to a post office box.
James, in a blue t-shirt and brown pants with his hands cuffed behind his back, didn't respond to reporters shouting questions as police escorted him to a car a few hours after his arrest.
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Police had launched a massive effort to find him, releasing his name and issuing cellphone alerts.
They got a tip Wednesday that he was in a McDonald's in Manhattan's East Village neighborhood, Chief of Department Kenneth Corey said.
The tipster was James, and he told authorities to come and get him, two law enforcement officials said. They weren't authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
James was gone when officers arrived, but they soon spotted him on a busy corner nearby.
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Four police cars zoomed around a corner, officers leaped out and, soon, a compliant James was in handcuffs as a crowd of people looked on, witness Aleksei Korobow said.
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said authorities "were able to shrink his world quickly."
"There was nowhere left for him to run," she said.