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A 15-year-old migrant suspected of shooting a tourist and firing at a police officer in a robbery-gone-wrong in Times Square was arrested on Friday, authorities said.
The US Marshals Joint Regional Fugitive Task Force and the NYPD tracked Venezuelan teen Jesus Alejandro Rivas-Figueroa down in Yonkers less than 24 hours after Thursday’s mayhem at the Crossroads of the World.
Photos obtained by The Post showed the young suspect, wearing a dark T-shirt, jeans and a gold necklace, being taken into custody at around 3:30 p.m. at what sources said was the home of a relative on Saratoga Avenue.
“He was crying. When he was apprehended, he was crying… Here he is committing these adult acts, that’s something you don’t expect a child to do, and then when he’s apprehended, he’s brought out in handcuffs crying,” NYPD spokesman Carlos Nieves told reporters.
He will most likely be charged as a juvenile with attempted murder of a police officer, Nieves said, noting the case will then either go to criminal or family court.
The arrest came moments after NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell, during a press conference, had identified Rivas-Figueroa as the “armed and dangerous” person of interest in the shooting.
The teen arrived in September and had been staying at a temporary shelter at the Stratford Hotel on West 70th Street, Chell told reporters.
He is also a suspect in a gunpoint robbery in the Bronx from Jan. 27, and another incident in which shots were fired at a park on 45th Street in Midtown on Jan. 25, police said.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether he would also be charged for those incidents.
NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban commended his force for nabbing Rivas-Figueroa “less than 24 hours” after his reign of terror.
“If you think you attack a member of this department, if you think you could threaten the lives of the very people who keep us safe. If you think you could put others at deadly risk and get away with it, then think again,” Caban said at a Friday evening press conference. “We will never stop pursuing you. We will find you, and we will arrest you.”
Police said Rivas-Figueroa and two other teens — all migrants who attended school together — were trying to shoplift from JD Sports, a sports-fashion retail store, on West 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue at around 7 p.m. when they were stopped by a security guard.
Rivas-Figueroa allegedly pulled out a “very large” .45-caliber handgun and fired “at her into a crowd,” Chell said.
The guard wasn’t hit, but a 38-year-old Brazilian tourist, Tatiele Riberio, who was in line waiting to buy sneakers and texting her husband. She was struck in the leg and dragged herself to the back of the store as chaos ensued.
The gunman and another 15-year-old boy bolted, with Rivas-Figueroa allegedly opening fire on a cop as he ran away toward West 46th Street, Chell said.
“He had no problems firing into a crowd at a store… and not shooting at cops once, but shooting at them twice,” Chell said.
“And I gotta tell you, [if] one of those bullets hits our cop last night, this is a whole different conversation we’re having today,” he added.
“Our cops showed great restraint not to fire their weapons into a crowd of New Yorkers.”
Video footage shows Rivas-Figueroa, who was in an all-white outfit, and the other teen bolting from the store, Chell said.
Cops patrolling the area began chasing them, with one of the officers snatching the unidentified teen and the other continuing to run after the gunman.
“He turns once, he fires towards our officer,” Chell told reporters of Rivas-Figueroa. “Our officer takes his gun out and he cannot return fire, there are too many people in his way.
“Our suspect goes through the cut between the buildings. He’s running, he takes his gun out and under his armpit he fires again at our officer,” Chell continued, as he demonstrated how the shooter reached behind his back with the gun.
https://nypost.com/2024/02/09/metro...n-times-square-shooting-that-injured-tourist/
The US Marshals Joint Regional Fugitive Task Force and the NYPD tracked Venezuelan teen Jesus Alejandro Rivas-Figueroa down in Yonkers less than 24 hours after Thursday’s mayhem at the Crossroads of the World.
Photos obtained by The Post showed the young suspect, wearing a dark T-shirt, jeans and a gold necklace, being taken into custody at around 3:30 p.m. at what sources said was the home of a relative on Saratoga Avenue.
“He was crying. When he was apprehended, he was crying… Here he is committing these adult acts, that’s something you don’t expect a child to do, and then when he’s apprehended, he’s brought out in handcuffs crying,” NYPD spokesman Carlos Nieves told reporters.
He will most likely be charged as a juvenile with attempted murder of a police officer, Nieves said, noting the case will then either go to criminal or family court.
The arrest came moments after NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell, during a press conference, had identified Rivas-Figueroa as the “armed and dangerous” person of interest in the shooting.
The teen arrived in September and had been staying at a temporary shelter at the Stratford Hotel on West 70th Street, Chell told reporters.
He is also a suspect in a gunpoint robbery in the Bronx from Jan. 27, and another incident in which shots were fired at a park on 45th Street in Midtown on Jan. 25, police said.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether he would also be charged for those incidents.
NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban commended his force for nabbing Rivas-Figueroa “less than 24 hours” after his reign of terror.
“If you think you attack a member of this department, if you think you could threaten the lives of the very people who keep us safe. If you think you could put others at deadly risk and get away with it, then think again,” Caban said at a Friday evening press conference. “We will never stop pursuing you. We will find you, and we will arrest you.”
Police said Rivas-Figueroa and two other teens — all migrants who attended school together — were trying to shoplift from JD Sports, a sports-fashion retail store, on West 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue at around 7 p.m. when they were stopped by a security guard.
Rivas-Figueroa allegedly pulled out a “very large” .45-caliber handgun and fired “at her into a crowd,” Chell said.
The guard wasn’t hit, but a 38-year-old Brazilian tourist, Tatiele Riberio, who was in line waiting to buy sneakers and texting her husband. She was struck in the leg and dragged herself to the back of the store as chaos ensued.
The gunman and another 15-year-old boy bolted, with Rivas-Figueroa allegedly opening fire on a cop as he ran away toward West 46th Street, Chell said.
“He had no problems firing into a crowd at a store… and not shooting at cops once, but shooting at them twice,” Chell said.
“And I gotta tell you, [if] one of those bullets hits our cop last night, this is a whole different conversation we’re having today,” he added.
“Our cops showed great restraint not to fire their weapons into a crowd of New Yorkers.”
Video footage shows Rivas-Figueroa, who was in an all-white outfit, and the other teen bolting from the store, Chell said.
Cops patrolling the area began chasing them, with one of the officers snatching the unidentified teen and the other continuing to run after the gunman.
“He turns once, he fires towards our officer,” Chell told reporters of Rivas-Figueroa. “Our officer takes his gun out and he cannot return fire, there are too many people in his way.
“Our suspect goes through the cut between the buildings. He’s running, he takes his gun out and under his armpit he fires again at our officer,” Chell continued, as he demonstrated how the shooter reached behind his back with the gun.
https://nypost.com/2024/02/09/metro...n-times-square-shooting-that-injured-tourist/
