Teen Fires In Times Square: According to the New York Police Department, a 15-year-old has been apprehended and charged as an adult after shooting and injuring a Brazilian tourist in a Times Square store and then firing at cops as he fled.
According to a criminal complaint, the teen, identified as a Venezuelan migrant who entered the United States in September, is charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and second-degree assault in the Thursday night incident.
New York City detectives and US Marshals captured the adolescent in Yonkers on Friday after investigating a suspected familial connection to the region, authorities said.
The incident occurred at the shoe retailer JD Sports. CNN received video footage of the incident, which began when a shop security officer approached the boy and requested him to produce a receipt for a jacket he was carrying in his backpack.
When the security officer grabbed the bag from the suspect, the video shows, the suspect went inside his coat for a revolver and fired a shot at her, hitting a 37-year-old lady visiting New York from Brazil, according to investigators.
During the subsequent half-mile foot chase through Times Square, police claim the man shot twice at the following officer while sprinting. The cop did not return fire, according to authorities, because the roadways were congested with pedestrians.
“Our cops showed great restraint not to fire their weapons into crowded New Yorkers,” NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell stated.
The incident occurred barely a block from where police encountered a group of guys from a migrant shelter on January 27 and requested them to walk aside, resulting in a skirmish in which about a dozen young men attacked two cops as they attempted to arrest one of them, CNN previously reported.
On Friday, NYPD Police Commissioner Edward Caban described the shooting as “way beyond reckless” during a press conference.
“In the middle of the busiest, most highly-trafficked part of this city, a criminal with a firearm decided to pull the trigger,” Caban said in a statement.
“If you think you can attack a member of this department, 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 the crowd.
Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Kathleen Coulson urged that the adolescent be detained in a bail application read after his arraignment.
- Flash Floods Hit Northeast: Record Rainfall & Rescues
- Nike-FC Barcelona Mega-Deal: €1.2B in Sight
- Goncalves family responds to Bryan Kohberger’s alibi
- Idaho Killings: Bryan Kohberger’s Alibi Revealed, Case Takes Turn
- Angelina Jolie’s and Brad Pitt’s Vineyard Feud Reveals Shocking Abuse Allegations!
“The defendant has demonstrated that he is an extreme flight risk and is facing a long sentence of incarceration on this strong case, where he shot an innocent bystander in Times Square and then fired at the police officer who was trying to arrest him,” according to the bail application.
The adolescent is also accused of being involved in two other New York City crimes last month: a gunpoint robbery in the Bronx and a shooting on 45th Street and Broadway, according to Chell.
CNN has reached out to an attorney representing the teen for comment. He is scheduled to appear in court on February 13.
