Suspected Shooter Frank James Went Unnoticed In A Park Slope Station

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Less than an hour after Frank James, 62, allegedly opened fire in a crowded Sunset Park train Tuesday morning, he entered a subway station in Park Slope, going unnoticed among crowds of students, hospital employees and construction workers.

At the time, little was known about James, who is now being held without bail and could face life in prison if found guilty of the mass shooting; the 30-hour manhunt to find him was barely underway, and he hadn't yet been named as a suspect (or even a person of interest) in the attack.

On Thursday morning, the day after James was captured in the East Village, though, many commuters at Seventh Avenue station were still unaware that he'd been there. Some said that they wouldn't be able to identify him had he shown up today.

"I'm watching outside all day, but [James] isn't familiar to me," said Jay Park, co-owner of Cusp Crepe and Espresso Bar, which is located steps away from the station on the corner of Seventh Avenue and Ninth Street. "I wouldn't have known it was him, someone just showed me his face on Instagram today."

Sam Brucke, who was standing on the Manhattan-bound platform, shared a similar sentiment.

"My roommate told me that [James] had been in this station, but I definitely wouldn't have known or spotted him otherwise," he said — a point he attributes to "not being very online in general."

Another commuter on the platform said she knew what James looked like, but didn't know until today that he'd been in the Park Slope station.

"I took the subway yesterday, but I probably wouldn't have had I known he'd been here," she said.

Before making his way to the Park Slope station, investigators found video of James entering the Kings Highway subway station.

At about 8:25 a.m. James is believed to have popped smoke grenades and fired 33 shots into an N train near 36th Street station, according to witness testimony and photographs outlined in the federal complaint against him.

As chaos unfolded on the Sunset Park N platform, James slipped onto an R train and got off at 25th Street station, officials said. At about 9:15 a.m., he entered Seventh Avenue station — his last known location before his arrest the following day, according to authorities.

Nicole Barbosa, who attends Millennium Brooklyn High School several blocks away from Seventh Avenue station, didn't know that James had been in Park Slope, but was on the train in Sunset Park during Tuesday's attack.

"It's eerie because it's like nothing had happened today," she said, noting that her commute — which marks the first time she's been on a train since the shooting — was without incident.

"Everybody was normal, which calmed me down. I'm just thankful to be here."

Despite promises to increase police presence in subway stations in the wake of the attack, there weren't any NYPD officers in the station — another part of the commute that is normal, according to Barbosa, who said that she doesn't usually see officers at Seventh Avenue.

While straphangers at other stations were divided over the city's choice to add more cops in the subway, most of the commuters at Seventh Avenue were apathetic to the idea.

"What are [the police] really going to do? Be in the car the next time this happens?" Brucke asked rhetorically, adding that he thinks it would be more helpful if subway station cameras work (at 36th Street, for instance, the cameras malfunctioned during the shooting).

Barbosa echoed the sentiment that working cameras are more important to her than additional police officers.

"I have my drivers permit, and I always see the speed cameras working, so it seems like the ones in the subway should work too," she said.

In the wake of the attack, Mayor Eric Adams doubled down on transit safety, saying that the city is exploring installing metal detector technology as a gun deterrent.

Shootings and transit crimes have spiked this year, but some experts said that Tuesday's subway shooting fits a national pattern of mass shootings — lone shooters who often give off warning signs — separate from the citywide increase in crime.

The motives of the gunman are still unknown, but James reportedly posted dozens of videos spewing bigoted views and endorsing violence on social media in recent years.

As of Wednesday, police are still investigating whether James planned other attacks, James Essig, the NYPD's chief of detectives, said.

The FBI is also seeking the public's help on its investigation into James, said Michael Driscoll, assistant director in charge of the bureau's New York field office. People can provide tips by 1-800-CALL-FBI or fbi.gov/brooklynshooting, he said.

At his arraignment in Brooklyn federal court Thursday, prosecutors said James poses a "severe and ongoing danger to the community."

Related Article:

• Brooklyn Subway Attack Suspect Frank James To Be Held Without Bail
• Brooklyn Subway Shooting Update: James Stockpiled Ammunition, Feds Say
• Arrested: Brooklyn Subway Shooting Suspect Caught In East Village
• 'I Kept My Eyes Open': Commuters Return To Sunset Park Subway Station