Ed wrote about the mass shooting on a Brooklyn subway this morning. Even this morning there were reports that the suspect was a black male around 5’5″ and 180 pounds. Now CNN is reporting the suspect has been identified thanks to a credit card he left behind.

A credit card used to rent a U-Haul cargo van helped investigators in New York quickly identify the suspect who opened fire on a Brooklyn subway, two law enforcement sources told CNN Tuesday.

The shooter, who fled the scene, was described as a 5-foot-5-inch Black man with a heavy build wearing a green construction vest and a gray hooded sweatshirt.

The U-haul van (seen above) has been located.

Five miles away from where a man opened fire in a subway train in Brooklyn and shot 10 people during the morning rush, the police recovered a rented U-Haul van late Tuesday afternoon that they believed had been driven by the gunman, a senior law enforcement official said.

But the van was empty, the official said, and the shooter remained at large…

A local NBC affiliate in New York reported that the as yet unnamed suspect has a criminal record in New York and Pennsylvania and that he apparently drove the van from Philadelphia to New York. There’s also this report which suggests the shooting could have been even worse than it was.

Investigators recovered multiple high-capacity magazines from the scene, three law enforcement officials said. Two officials said they believe the gun jammed during the shooting. Investigators also recovered fireworks and gunpowder at the scene, two law enforcement sources told CNN.

None of the injuries sustained in the attack were life threatening. Though it’s hard to see any upside to something like this, we may have all been spared a much worse and much deadlier outcome. Investigators reportedly have cell phone video showing the suspect which is probably all they have because it appears none of the cameras in the subway station were working:

As officers scoured a Brooklyn neighborhood for a man who opened fire in a subway car, at least one security camera at a nearby station recorded nothing, thanks to “a malfunction,” Mayor Eric Adams said.

The issue was under investigation, Mr. Adams said, and officials were working to determine whether a single camera — or all of them — failed. One senior law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said on Tuesday afternoon that it appeared none were in full operation at the time of the shooting that morning.

The malfunction appeared to be a significant obstacle in the investigation, which by late Tuesday afternoon involved an expansive search for information throughout streets in Sunset Park and other parts of the city.

As Ed pointed out earlier, authorities are saying this is not being investigated as a terror attack. However, a Newsweek reporter claimed he was told by a federal law enforcement officer that the suspect is a former “FBI Guardian Lead.”

eGuardian. https://t.co/YCozuIiaZW

— Naveed Jamali (@NaveedAJamali) April 12, 2022

From the FBI site, that means he was some kind of suspect though exactly what kind we don’t know:

The Guardian Program, managed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Counterterrorism Division (CTD), Guardian Management Unit (GMU), provides a proven methodology for reporting, sharing, tracking, and mitigating a large volume of counterterrorism-based incidents. The Guardian Program encompasses two systems, the classified Guardian Threat Tracking System (Guardian), which resides on FBINET, and an unclassified companion, the eGuardian system, which is available and utilized in the daily operations of state, local, tribal, territorial, and federal law enforcement partners as well as the national fusion center network.

That seems to be all we know for now. If they do have the suspect’s name, why haven’t they released it along with a DMV photo or something similar. At this point, wouldn’t it be easier to spot this guy if everyone in New York knew what he looked like?

There’s a live update taking place now. Scroll forward to the end of this to get to the start of the presser.

• “We are truly fortunately that this was not significantly worse than it is,” the police commissioner said.
• Still no known motive.
• Suspect fired his Glock 33 times, hitting 10 people.
• Suspect also had extended magazines, a hatchet and gasoline.
• There was also a key to a rented U-haul van.
• Male who rented the U-haul van is Frank R. James, age 62.
• Police are saying they’re not certain James is the the shooter or just rented the van but want to speak to him.

Update: Here’s a photo of Frank James.

This is Frank James. He is a person of interest in the shooting that took place on the N train in Brooklyn Tuesday morning. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call @NYPDTips at 1-800-577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/vSYb5UIu2k

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) April 12, 2022

Also there’s this:

NYPD: The suspect Frank James made some “concerning posts” on social media about the homeless, New York and Mayor @NYCMayor. As a result, they’re increasing the mayor’s security detail @ABC7NY

— Dan Krauth (@DanKrauthABC7) April 12, 2022

Senior law enforcement officials tells @Newsy: Frank James has a history of mental health issues, known to law enforcement from previous arrests. Law enforcement combing through social media because of "questionable posts."

— Alex Miller (@AlexMillerNews) April 12, 2022

To be clear, the earlier reports (prior to the presser) said a suspect had been identified through a credit card left at the scene connected to a U-haul. Now police are saying Frank James rented the U-haul but is a person of interest and non necessarily the shooter.