The Big Apple Wednesday honored the city cops and citizen sleuths who jumped into action to help nab the accused culprit in the Brooklyn subway rampage last week.
“I bet if you asked them they’re probably first-generation New Yorkers,” Mayor Eric Adams said of the civilian heroes during a press conference with NYPD brass at police headquarters.
“They’re probably the first to really participate in this dream we call the American dream,” the mayor said. “But they love their city so much that they went after the person that tried to destroy our way of life.”
Four average New Yorkers helped lead cops to Frank James, 62, after the deranged loner allegedly unleashed a violent attack aboard a Manhattan-bound N train on April 12.
James was on the lam for about 29 hours before the tipsters spotted him and called the cops. Also, the accused gunman allegedly dropped a dime on himself as well after being spotted and taken into custody.
The police officers and average citizens who helped capture the alleged Brooklyn subway shooter were honored at a ceremony attended by Mayor Eric Adams. Getty Images
10 subway riders were shot and 29 total people were injured in the attack. Raymond Chiodini
Alleged subway shooter Frank James was on the loose for 29 hours after the attack. Matthew McDermottAdams said Wednesday that James only called Crime Stoppers on himself after locals ratted him out and “because of the job we did that gave him no other choice.”
James last week was arraigned on a federal terrorism charge and is being held without bail pending a return court appearance.
“There was so much movement around him, and I just recognized him from the photos NYPD put out and it was my first instinct to say, ‘That’s him. That’s Frank James,’ ” said Jack Griffin, a 17-year-old high school junior who snapped a pic of James in Chinatown.
“My camera was around my neck and I saw him sitting on the bench,” Griffin said. “Sitting on the bench, super still. And that’s when I got out my camera. I set it up like I was taking a shot of the street, but I took the photo of him in the bottom right corner.”
Griffin sent the photo to the NYPD.
17-year-old Jack Griffin snapped a picture of alleged subway shooter Frank James in Chinatown and sent it in to the NYPD. Getty ImagesAnother good Samaritan, Zack Tahhan, said he saw James on a security camera.
“There was the police at a traffic light and I ran and I told them, ‘This is the guy. I’m sure 100%. This is the guy, he had the problem in the subway,'” said Tahhan, 22.
“Thank God we get him, you know,” he said. “I’m so happy for that because now Americans safe and New York. Everybody’s safe.”
The attack left at least 29 injured, including 10 straphangers who were been shot.
Miraculously, no one was killed.
Before the smoke cleared, first-responders dashed to the scene — even as initial reports suggested there were live explosive devices still on the train.
“Officers helped rescue the wounded and continued working to gather evidence, identify a suspect and build a case,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said Wednesday.
“Their meticulous work accomplished a tremendous amount in a very short period of time,” Sewell said. “To connect a key to a van and that van to a name and then … a person of interest. We then connected the purchase of the gun recovered at the scene to the same person who then became our suspect.
“As thousands of investigators and officers searched for that suspect throughout the day and night on Tuesday, a strategic decision was made to publicly identify the shooter, disseminate this photo and gain the ears of millions of New Yorkers in tracking him down.”
Zack Tahhan spotted alleged subway shooter Frank James on a security camera and alerted nearby police officers. Getty ImagesAdditional reporting by Hannah Ferrera
