An illegal Venezuelan migrant has been arrested for allegedly shooting two NYPD officers while they were on a scooter after they tried to stop him.
Police approached Bernardo Raul Castro-Mata, 19, as he drove the illegal vehicle the wrong way on a one-way highway in Queens overnight.
He allegedly responded by opening fire on the officers using an unlicensed weapon before fleeing on foot just before 2 a.m., New York police said. One police officer was shot in the leg while the other was shot in his bulletproof vest.
Although Castro-Mata has never been arrested in New York, police believe he is part of a group that uses scooters to commit violent robberies.
Bernardo Raul Castro-Mata, 19, was arrested for allegedly riding an illegal scooter the wrong way on a one-way highway in Queens overnight.
An illegal Venezuelan migrant was arrested for allegedly shooting two NYPD officers while they were on a scooter after they tried to stop him, officials said. (Pictured: Castro-Mata taken from the scene of the shooting on a stretcher)
“We are looking for him for several other robberies in the Queens area where he has other co-defendants,” NYPD Detective Joseph Kenny said during a briefing Monday morning.
In one incident, he is accused of attacking a woman and stealing her credit card, which was then used at a Queens smoke shop, according to New York police records.
Castro-Mata entered the United States in July last year through Eagle Pass, Texas, Kenny said. He resides in a migrant shelter on Ditmars Boulevard, near where the shooting took place.
The teen was also shot in the ankle during the altercation with police at 89th Street and 23rd Avenue in Elmhurst, and he underwent surgery Monday morning at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens.
The NYPD said the unlicensed gun he allegedly used was found at the scene.
Photographs show a shocked Castro-Mata as he is taken away on a stretcher with his arms handcuffed behind his back.
Bernardo Raul Castro-Mata, 19, allegedly shot at police using an illegal handgun (pictured) in East Elmhurst shortly before 2 a.m. Monday.
Police approached Bernardo Raul Castro-Mata, 19, as he drove the illegal vehicle the wrong way on a one-way highway in East Elmurst, Queens, overnight. (Pictured: Castro-Mata taken from the scene of the shooting on a stretcher)
Pictured: The scooter abandoned at the crime scene after the shootout between Castro-Mata and two NYPD officers
Another image shows three officers carrying him away by his arms and legs as he grimaces. The abandoned scooter can also be seen amid the carnage at the scene.
The NYPD officers involved in the shooting were also filmed leaving Elmhurst Hospital in daylight several hours later.
Onlookers gave them a standing ovation as one was pushed out in a wheelchair before jumping into a police van, while the other came out and shook hands with his colleagues.
This follows an explosive report that 350,000 migrants who entered the United States illegally have had their immigration cases dismissed, allowing them to be released without a verdict on the merits of their entry.
Kerry Doyle, a top adviser to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), circulated a memo in 2022 ordering prosecutors to close the cases of migrants who do not pose a threat to national security, first reported the New York Post.
As a result, that year, nearly 103,000 migrants had their cases rejected, allowing them to freely enter the United States without an immigration judge rendering a verdict on the merits. of their asylum request.
Later in 2023, this number of rejected cases increased to 149,000.
So far in fiscal year 2024, 114,000 cases have been dismissed without a verdict, according to the report.
Under Biden’s leadership, 77% of migrants seeking asylum have been allowed to remain in the United States, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a nonprofit organization that combs through immigration court records .