Zack Tahhan said he couldn’t sleep Tuesday night knowing a suspect was still at large after a mass shooting in a Brooklyn subway car left dozens injured.
He might sleep better now after having helped capture the suspect on Wednesday.
Tahhan, a 21-year-old security camera installer in Manhattan who is originally from Syria, was credited with the capture of Frank R. James, a 62-year-old suspected of unleashing two smoke canisters in a subway car before opening fire with a gun and striking 10 people during Tuesday’s morning commute.
James, who was allegedly wearing a gas mask and a construction vest, fled the scene after the attack near Sunset Park and remained missing throughout Wednesday. That is, until an eagle-eyed observation by Tahhan.
“My name is Zack,” Tahhan said in video captured by witness Samantha Zirkin recounting his actions. “I was working inside the store, security cameras inside, and I see the guy from the cameras and I say, ‘Oh shit, this guy! Let me call the police.’ So I call them and we catch him!”
Tahhan was referring to James, whom he spotted walking near St. Mark’s Place in the East Village. Tahhan immediately sprung into action, yelling at passersby to keep their distance from the suspected shooter after James set a bag down on the street.
“I said, ‘Guys, please keep far from him, this guy is gonna do something,’” Tahhan recalled while speaking to the media. “People think I am crazy, no choice but to believe me. I say, ‘Guys, trust me, this is the guy!’”
Tahhan said he called for police, who then arrested James.
“Thank you for your bravery today, Zack,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a tweet. “All of New York is grateful.”
Officers with the New York Police Department later escorted Tahhan to a police station to give a witness statement, video captured by Gothamist reporter Jake Offenhartz shows.
As the car pulled away, Tahhan waved out the window to cheers from a celebratory crowd.