Brooklyn subway shooting arrest prompts big relief, lingering concerns

Clearly the best news of Wednesday was the NYPD’s quick and efficient arrest of alleged subway shooter Frank R. James in Manhattan’s East Village. At one point, in an online rant, James had boasted it would be easy to get away with causing mayhem on the subway. But with photos and reports about him everywhere amid a manhunt, he ultimately called CrimeStoppers on himself, officials said.

James is the 62-year-old suspect who allegedly donned a gas mask and set off smoke grenades in a crowded subway car in Brooklyn Tuesday, then shot a 9mm. pistol 33 times, causing injuries to at least 23 people. Miraculously and thankfully, there were no fatalities.

From what authorities and witnesses have shared, this latest nightmare of random violence will feed a number of disturbing civic categories and concerns — rising crime, mental disturbance, long rap sheets, security gaps, guns in the wrong hands, and, by the loosest of definitions, hate and terrorism.

James bought the Glock firearm in Ohio in 2011 and had no felony convictions, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said. At that time and place, the purchase seems to have been legal. Should it have been? After years of debate and controversy, access and licensing of firearms remains as unsettled a political topic as immigration.

The case rings an alarm about mental illness. A stranger's innermost motives are always hard to judge from a distance. But YouTube postings by the now-defendant give a glimpse of what police were talking about Tuesday when they said James appeared to be an “emotionally disturbed person.” The videos were full of scattershot slurs about whites, Blacks, homosexuals, the homeless and Mayor Eric Adams. Of Adams discussing mental health care workers helping the homeless, James said, "There’s no help. It’s going to fail! Because all these ----s are predators."

He also alluded to being institutionalized, which prompts questions about what failed to prevent his emotional explosion. The case will join a thickening file of unprovoked attacks in New York City.

Meanwhile, the transit system will be under extra pressure to reassure riders about safety. Obviously, security cameras need fixing — the one at the ill-fated 36th St. Station on Brooklyn's N line proved inoperative, although other cameras and data tracing helped officials quickly identify the suspect and track his movements.

Police sought to quell fears early on by saying it didn’t appear to be a “terrorist” incident. This suggested, of course, it was not the work of a band of political or religious extremists. And we still don't know a motive, if there is even a coherent one. But U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said James would be charged under a federal statute aimed at terrorist attacks or other violence against a mass transportation system.

It was a New York moment, but its themes of violence, fear and madness reach across location and category, all demanding our collective attention, caution, and response.