(Reuters) – Five people who provided “critical information” that helped lead to the arrest of the man charged with this week’s mass shooting in a New York subway will share a $50,000 reward, the New York Police Department announced on Friday.
Frank James, the man accused of carrying out one of the most violent attacks on the city’s mass transit system, was arrested in lower Manhattan on Wednesday following a 30-hour manhunt that was helped by a barrage of tips from the public. James, 62, also called the police tipline to turn himself in, aiding in his own capture, according to his lawyers.
“We appreciate all of those who responded to our call for information to locate this suspect, including all of those whose tips did not pan out,” Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said in a statement. “We urged the public to join us in this effort to find this suspect and New Yorkers stepped up.”
James, 62, is accused of injuring 30 people by setting off smoke bombs and spraying the inside of a subway car with gunfire during Tuesday morning’s rush-hour commute in Brooklyn.
Police said 10 people were shot, although all were expected to survive. About 20 others were injured by smoke canisters or in the stampede of terrified passengers pouring out of the subway car onto the platform, according to prosecutors.
The NYPD said its detectives used the flow of public tips to build a timeline of events that helped them locate James. Of the people who provided tips, five were chosen whose “information contributed directly” to the suspect’s arrest.
The NYPD did not identify the five people who will evenly split the $50,000 reward, which is comprised of funds from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Transport Workers Union Local 100, and the New York City Police Foundation.
“Thanks to the help of these five good Samaritans, the NYPD was able to do its job and get a dangerous suspect off the streets just hours after his picture was released,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.
(Reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
