Subway Gunman Frank James — Who Called Himself ‘Prophet of Doom’ — Faces 10 Life Sentences for NYC Mass Shooting
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT Some victims are expected to speak in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn during a proceeding that could last two hours
A madman who called himself the "Prophet of Doom" in unhinged, online rants faces a marathon sentencing hearing Thursday for wounding 10 people during a mass shooting inside a subway car full of morning commuters in New York City.
Several of Frank James' victims are expected to deliver emotional statements in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn during a proceeding that officials expect could last two hours.
Prosecutors have asked Judge William Kuntz II to impose 10 life sentences, one for every person that James shot inside a packed, Manhattan-bound N train in Brooklyn shortly before 8:30 a.m. on April 12, 2022.
Last month, prosecutors filed sealed court papers containing letters from some victims but said others told them "that reliving the attack is still too painful for them to share even in a letter to the Court."
"For example, one of the victims was a high school student who was on his way to school when the defendant shot him twice," prosecutors Sara Winik and Ellen Sise wrote.
"The victim’s injuries required emergency surgery. The student had to take the rest of the school year off to recover from his injuries, and his mother had to take unpaid leave as a home health aide to care for him."
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They added: "Ultimately, the family had to move apartments before the next school year began so the student could walk to school because he was too traumatized to take the subway."
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
It's unclear whether James, 64, will plead for mercy or offer a public apology for the mass shooting.
His court-appointed lawyer, who's said that James "snapped" after a lifetime of paranoid schizophrenia, didn't return an inquiry from The Messenger on Wednesday.
Prosecutors also submitted grisly photographs of the aftermath, including one that showed large pools of blood on the floor of the car.
Another showed a bloody streak across a platform in the Sunset Park station where victims were apparently dragged after the carnage.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
James used a 9 mm pistol with an extended magazine to fire 32 shots that wounded victims who ranged in age from 16 to 60 before the gun jammed.
He allegedly planned the rampage for years — and posted threatening messages and videos online, including some in which he called himself the "Prophet of Doom."
James carried out the mass shooting while disguised as a maintenance worker in a yellow hard hat and orange reflective jacket.
He also set off a smoke grenade to send panicked passengers to the end of the car, creating what prosecutors called a "kill funnel" into which he sprayed bullets.
James escaped in the confusion that followed the shooting but surrendered amid a massive manhunt about 30 hours later.
He pleaded guilty as charged in January to 10 counts of committing a terrorist act against a mass transit system and one count of firing a firearm during a violent crime.
Assistant Federal Defender Mia Eisner-Grynberg argued in court papers last month that under "properly-calculated" federal guidelines, James should be sentenced to 18 years.
Eisner-Grynberg also said that "his age, his health, and the Bureau of Prisons’ notoriously inadequate medical care" meant it would be "a significant term that vastly outpaces his life expectancy."
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