The court ruled: The Brooklyn shooter will remain in custody until further notice
Frank James was brought before a judge in the Brooklyn Federal Court, where it was ruled that he would not be released on bail for the severity of the charges against him.
Frank James, who is suspected of the shooting incident at the Brooklyn subway station earlier this week, was brought this morning (Thursday) to federal court in the borough, where it was determined he would not be released on bail.
Frank James, after his arrest on Wednesday (Photo: AP)
Aside from a number of times he answered “yes” to questions such as “Do you understand the charges against you?”, 62-year-old James did not speak during the hearing in Brooklyn this morning.
James is accused of carrying out a terrorist attack on public transport – a federal offense that is expected to result in life imprisonment. Sarah Winick, the federal prosecutor’s assistant, asked the court not to allow James to be released on bail:
“The defendant opened fire in a crowded subway car. It caused terror and disruption that this city had not experienced for two decades. The defendant’s attack was premeditated and caused victims and the entire city to face a sense of terror.”
The court accepted the prosecution’s claim and ruled that James would remain in custody until further notice.
Chaos on the subway after the shooting incident, earlier this week in Brooklyn (Photo: AP)
As you may recall, James was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday afternoon in the East Village area, about a day after wearing a gas mask, activated a smoke grenade and fired 33 times on the N train that made its way to Manhattan. Ten people were shot during the shooting incident, and at least 20 others were injured during the chaotic evacuation.
During Wednesday it was learned that James himself was the one who contacted the police and said he was inside a McDonalds branch on First Avenue at the corner of 6th Street.
A number of vehicles were sent to the area, but a search of the James branch did not locate him. However, officers opened searches on nearby streets and found James in the area of First Avenue at the corner of St. Marks Street.
“We hope the arrest of the suspect will give the residents of the city some comfort,” Kitchener Sewell, commissioner of New York, said after James’s arrest earlier today. “Together, the FBI, the ATF and the Marshals’ Service. Together, we were able to reduce the suspect’s world, so there was nowhere to run.”
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