A 15-year-old migrant has been arrested after allegedly shooting a tourist and firing at a police officer in Times Square. Venezuelan teen Jesus Alejandro Rivas-Figueroa was tracked down by the US Marshals Joint Regional Fugitive Task Force and the NYPD after the robbery-gone-wrong on Thursday, February 8. Jesus was arrested on Friday, in less than 24 hours.
“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, according to New York Post.
Jesus will possibly be charged as a juvenile with attempted murder of a police officer, Nieves said. The case will either go to criminal or family court.
Jesus allegedly also attempted to carry out a gunpoint robbery in the Bronx on January 27. In another incident, shots were fired at a park on 45th Street in Midtown on January 25. It is unclear if he was charged for these incidents.
{{/usCountry}}Jesus allegedly also attempted to carry out a gunpoint robbery in the Bronx on January 27. In another incident, shots were fired at a park on 45th Street in Midtown on January 25. It is unclear if he was charged for these incidents.
{{/usCountry}}NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban appreciated his force for arresting Jesus quickly. “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 press conference. “We will never stop pursuing you. We will find you, and we will arrest you.”
According to police, Jesus, along with two other teens, were attempting to shoplift from a sports-fashion retail store on West 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue at around 7 pm. All the teens attended school together. This is when they were stopped by a security guard.
Jesus then allegedly pulled out a “very large” .45-calibre handgun and fired “at her into a crowd,” NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said. The guard was not hit, however, a 38-year-old Brazilian tourist named Tatiele Riberio was struck in the leg. She was in line waiting to buy sneakers, and was texting her husband. She managed to drag herself to the back of the store.
Jesus then opened fire at a cop before running away toward West 46th Street. “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.”
Jesus was then chased by cops who were patrolling the area. “He turns once, he fires towards our officer,” Chell said. “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 added.
According to authorities, Jesus was with his mother at a home on Saratoga Avenue when they nabbed him.