A migrant who crossed the southern border illegally in July was arrested after the shootings of two New York City police officers early Monday.
Bernardo Raul Castro Mato, 19, a Venezuelan migrant who entered the U.S. through Eagle Pass, Texas, was arrested, ABC 7 reported. He was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital in Queens after being shot in the lower leg.
The teen, who has been living at a migrant shelter near LaGuardia Airport, has no criminal history in New York City, but is a suspect in several "snatch and grab" robbery investigations in Queens, police said.
The two officers were shot early Monday while confronting the suspect on a moped while investigating a robbery pattern in Elmhurst, Queens.
NYPD officer Christopher Abreu, 26, was shot in the leg. Officer Richard Yarusso, 26, was hit by a bullet in his vest and grazed in the stomach. They were released from the hospital Monday morning.
"This is a bullet hole. Because of this vest, a young police officer is going home. Senseless act of violence, a total disregard for life," Mayor Eric Adams, holding a bulletproof vest, said during a press conference. "Our officers responded with a level of discipline, focus, professionalism, and today, we thank God."
The officers had tried to pull over Castro Mata after seeing him driving the wrong way down a street in Elmhurst at about 1:40 a.m., police said, the New York Post reported.
The suspect quickly jumped off the moped and fled for several blocks. That's when the suspect allegedly pulled out an illegal gun and fired multiple rounds at the officers, the Post reported.
Castro Mata is a suspect in a robbery that included a woman being attacked and having her credit cards stolen.
"The patterns that we're looking at currently in Queens that he's involved with involve phone snatches and instances where a woman was attacked, her credit card was stolen, and eventually used in a Queens smoke shop," NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said, CBS News reported.
The suspect was shot in the right ankle and underwent surgery, police said. He's expected to survive, the news outlet said.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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