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Rep. Nicole Malliotakis said Wednesday that New Yorkers were “on edge” with suspected subway shooter Frank James still on the loose after at least 10 people were shot Tuesday morning in a Brooklyn subway station.
Malliotakis’ district includes parts of Brooklyn as close as 30 blocks from where the shooting happened.
“It’s concerning that he managed to escape the train car and the subway station unidentified. And that still 24 hours (later) they’ve been unable to find him” Malliotakis said in an interview shortly before James was captured. “And obviously the community is on edge knowing that this gunman is on the loose.”
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican from New York, speaks during a Select Subcommittee On Coronavirus Crisis hearing in Washington, D.C. May 19, 2021. (Susan Walsh/AP Photo/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
BROOKLYN SUBWAY SHOOTING SUSPECT FRANK JAMES STILL AT LARGE, POLICE PROBING SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS
“Yesterday was a horrific incident” that’s worrying citizens, Malliotakis added. But, she said, this has become something New Yorkers deal with regularly. The headline-grabbing shooting in the Brooklyn subway station didn’t even account for half of New York City shooting victims Tuesday.
According to the NYPD’s preliminary statistics, 25 people were shot in nine different incidents Tuesday. Those numbers include the single Brooklyn shooting incident where 10 people were shot.
Frank James was taken into custody shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday. (NYPD)
“I think, for the most part, New York has gone back to its usual business, but people are on edge” after Tuesday’s shooting, Malliotakis said. “And they’ve been on edge. We’ve had people shoved in front of trains, people stabbed at train stations, people robbed at train stations. There’s quality of life issues around the city, and people have had enough.”
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Malliotakis said part of the reason for New York’s crime wave is its policies, specifically its move away from broken windows policing on smaller crimes, which she says helps deter larger crimes.
The congresswoman blamed Democratic officials for the change.
In this photo provided by Will B Wylde, a person is aided outside a subway car in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Tuesday, April 12, 2022. A gunman filled a rush-hour subway train with smoke and shot multiple people Tuesday, leaving wounded commuters bleeding on a Brooklyn platform as others ran screaming, authorities said. (Will B Wylde via AP)
“When Mayor de Blasio came along, it just descended into chaos and lawlessness,” Malliotakis said. “And, unfortunately, we allowed for some far-left individuals to be elected that have worked to dismantle public safety. Between the defund the police movement, the bail law, ending broken windows policing, decriminalizing low-level crimes, we have attracted a criminal element in our city, and New Yorkers are suffering.”
Malliotakis added that James’ social media history, which was revealed late Tuesday, was “disturbing.”
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A senior law enforcement source told Fox News Wednesday that some of James’ posts were critical of New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Fox News Digital viewed a string of rambling, profanity-laced YouTube videos in which a man who is apparently James decries the United States as a racist, violent place.
“This nation was born in violence, it’s kept alive by violence or the threat thereof, and it’s going to die a violent death. There’s nothing going to stop that,” James said in one video.
James was taken into custody shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday. On Wednesday morning, Adams confirmed to Fox News that James was the lone suspect in the attack.
Fox News Stephen Sorace, Brian Llenas and David Spunt contributed to this report.