Bruce Zoldan, President, CEO, and Board Chairman of the Youngstown-based B.J. Allan Company/Phantom Fireworks played a major role that lead law enforcement officials to determine a person of interest in the New York City subway attack that left 10 shot in the New York City subway attack on Tuesday.

Zoldan told 21News that any time explosives are used in an attack, his company reaches out to see if law enforcement officials know what type of explosives were used.

In this case, Zoldan's assistance helped to determine a person of interest for law enforcement officials, which includes the FBI, the NYC Crime Taskforce and the ATF.

According to Zoldan, once it was determined that the explosives that were used in the NYC subway attack were Phantom Firework products, Zoldan asked officials for the identifying markers as far as the products used and if a video clip that showed a person of interest from the New York officials.

Once Zoldan and his team were provided images and data on the explosives,  they were able to determine and provide the law enforcement officials with a name, address and date the fireworks were purchased.

According to Zoldan, the fireworks in question were purchased at the Phantom Fireworks location in Racine, Wisconsin in June of 2021. The person of interest was seen on surveillance video and found in the B.J. Allan Company database as purchasing fireworks that matched those used on the NYC subway on Tuesday.

The person of interest in the B.J. Allan Company database shows the man lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Zoldan says his company is proactive to help law enforcement in cases involving the use of explosives, stating that fireworks are meant to be part of a celebration and "not used for domestic terrorist acts." Zoldan said that the Federal regulations that require anyone purchasing fireworks must provide a valid driver's license or state ID, and must provide an address the purchasing agent resides.

According to the Associated Press,  the man sought in connection with an attack on a subway train in Brooklyn is now considered a suspect, Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday.

Investigators had initially been searching for Frank R. James as a person of interest. Police said Tuesday that James rented a van possibly connected to Tuesday's violence, but that they weren't sure whether he was responsible for the shooting itself. Adams, speaking to NPR on Wednesday morning, did not offer details on why officials were now seeking James as a suspect beyond citing “new information that became available to the team.”
 

Adams said Wednesday that investigators were zeroed in on finding James.