The teenage NYC migrant responsible for shooting a tourist in Times Square shed crocodile tears as he was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals on Friday.
In an operation led by U.S. Marshals, a 15-year-old teenager from Venezuela, Jesus Alejandro Rivas-Figueroa, was located and apprehended at a residence on Saratoga Avenue in Yonkers, New York, last Friday afternoon.
NYC migrant cries during arrest
Cameras caught the baby-faced criminal sobbing as federal agents led him away in cuffs.
The arrest followed an intense search after Rivas-Figueroa was accused of shooting a tourist during an attempted robbery in Times Square on Thursday.
Described as “very, very violent” by NYPD Deputy Chief of Detectives Jason Savino, the young suspect reportedly discharged a .45 caliber handgun during a botched robbery in the Manhattan tourist trap.
The situation that led to Rivas-Figueroa’s violent altercation began at sporting goods store, which he and two other teenagers—a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old—plotted to rip off.
The teens reportedly attempted to steal merchandise from the store’s second-level floor but were thwarted by a female security officer.
After the security guard did her job, Rivas-Figueroa thanked her by firing off two rounds from a handgun that he aimed so poorly, he missed the guard and hit a Brazilian tourist instead.
Teenage NYC migrant continues shooting spree in Times Square
The trigger happy teen took off outside the store and into the crowded streets, where he shot off more rounds at NYPD patrolmen in the area.
“He turns once. He fires towards our officer. Our officer takes his gun out. He cannot return fire, there’s too many people in his way,” NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said about the teenager’s criminal chaos.
Chell described how the officer was unable to return fire at Rivas-Figueroa because there were too many civilians between them, which allowed the teenager to flee on foot.
“As the suspect goes through the cut between the buildings, he’s running, he takes his gun out under his armpit, he fires again at our officer,” the patrol chief detailed.
“I gotta tell you – one of those bullets hits our cop last night, this is a whole different conversation we’re having today. Our cop showed great restraint not to fire their weapon into a crowd of New Yorkers.”
Rivas-Figueroa evaded immediate capture by fleeing the scene and disappearing into the city’s subway system.
The U.S. Marshals were able to catch the young criminal at a relative’s home in Yonkers, less than a day after his crime spree.
The teenager and his family had been staying at the Stratford Hotel, a designated migrant shelter, since arriving into the United States in September.
The investigation into Rivas-Figueroa also unearthed his suspected involvement in a January 27 armed robbery in the Bronx and a separate “shots fired” incident in Midtown Manhattan, adding to the gravity of his alleged crimes.
Rivas-Figueroa’s 16-year-old companion was also taken into custody by police, while the additional 15-year-old suspect was reportedly detained, questioned by detectives, and subsequently released. The boys reportedly all attend school together.
NYC migrant crisis spurs spike in crime rates
Addressing concerns of criminal trends within migrant communities, Chell noted that individual actions should not reflect upon entire communities.
“We don’t care who you are, what your status is,” he stated. “We’re not going to broad brush a whole migrant community as being bad people.”
Yet he acknowledged that “some Venezuelan groups of migrants—affecting crime in our city more so now than when they first got here,” noting instances of robberies and thefts.
NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban issued a stark warning to criminals. “If you think you can threaten the lives of the very people who keep us safe, if you think you can put others at deadly risk and get away with it, then think again,” he told reporters.
“We will never stop pursuing you. We will find you, and we will arrest you.”
The tourist caught in the crossfire was able to drag herself to safety during the chaos, and has since been discharged from the hospital, after getting 13 stitches for a gunshot wound to the leg.
Charges against Rivas-Figueroa are likely to include attempted murder of a police officer as a juvenile offender, along with additional charges stemming from the Jan. 27 armed robbery in the Bronx.
