Police arrested the 15-year-old Venezuelan migrant who they say shot a Brazilian tourist and a New York police officer after they confronted him about shoplifting Thursday night.
CBS New York reports that Jesús Alejandro Rivas Figueroa was detained by US Marshals in Yonkers after a nearly daylong manhunt following the Times Square shooting at the JD Sports store.
The New York Police Department had offered a $13,500 reward in its search for Rivas Figueroa, who police say is living at the Stratford Hotel shelter in Manhattan and entered the United States in September.
At only 15 years old, Rivas Figueroa is already wanted for two other crimes: an armed robbery in the Bronx on January 27 and another shooting in Midtown.
Patrol Chief John Chell said Friday that police also identified the two other teens who are persons of interest. The other two boys are 15 and 16 years old, but have not been named.
The New York Police Department offers a $13,500 reward in its search for the gunman, Jesús Alejandro Rivas Figueroa
Rivas Figueroa is a 15-year-old Venezuelan migrant who entered the country in September
Police were seen outside the Stewart Hotel on Friday as they searched for the alleged gunman, believed to be a migrant between the ages of 15 and 20.
Police are offering a $13,500 reward in their search for the gunman who wounded a Brazilian tourist and fired at police officers as they pursued him.
Chell said police consider the 15-year-old to be a person of interest and are still determining what, if any, his involvement was. He was arrested shortly after the shooting while Rivas Figueroa escaped.
Police were seen outside the Stewart Hotel on Friday as they searched for the alleged gunman, who they say was armed with the .45 pistol he used to open fire in Midtown.
‘We need the public’s help to identify and locate this individual before he hurts anyone else. “He already shot an innocent person and tried to murder a New York City police officer,” said NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
Gunfire erupted after a security guard stopped the shooter and two other teenagers as they tried to leave the JD Sports store in Times Square with allegedly stolen items.
The guard asked for their receipts and one of the group left the store empty-handed, but the other two stayed. The guard then grabbed a shopping bag containing a coat they were allegedly trying to steal and approached the other teen.
NYPD searches for robber who opened fire inside JD Sports in Times Square the night before, wounding a tourist before fleeing
The guard asked for their receipts and one of the group left the store empty-handed, but the other two stayed.
The young man then opened fire on the guard, but instead hit a 37-year-old Brazilian woman in the leg, just above the knee, while she was shopping inside the store with a friend.
After she was shot, the tourist limped to a warehouse and barricaded herself inside while the security guard left the teens and ran to her aid. In images from the scene you can see how an ambulance took her away.
The gunman, described as Hispanic, also fired at police as he fled, according to officials, who said they want to charge him with attempted murder of a police officer.
NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said the shooter escaped to the 49th Street subway station.
Police have also released the above image of the shooting suspect as they search for him.
‘In the middle of the block on 47th Street, there was a cut between the Fox buildings. When the perpetrator walks in there, he turns around and shoots our officer. “Our officer pulls the gun on him, but he can’t shoot, there are too many people around,” Chell said.
‘There are too many people bending over. As the man in white moves deeper into the cut, under the armpit, he fires his second shot at our officer. Once again, our officer does not return fire.
The couple left a trail of clothing at West 48th Street and Sixth Avenue.
Police say the suspected gunman fled toward a subway station at 46th Street and Sixth Avenue and surveillance video shows him running toward the train tracks before exiting the subway system.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry tweeted: ‘An attack on a police officer is an attack on all of us! This coward shot an innocent, hard-working New Yorker and then opened fire on one of our officers. …This individual continues to pose a danger and must be detained immediately.’
In images from the place you can see how an ambulance takes the Brazilian tourist
Suspects left trail of clothing at West 48th Street and Sixth Avenue
Witnesses tied the victim’s shirt around his leg as a makeshift tourniquet as staff and other shoppers crowded into the store’s back room.
The tourist was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition and a police officer who became breathless while chasing the suspects was taken to New York-Presbyterian.
Police said the alleged gunman was last seen wearing a white baseball cap, white coat and white pants.
“Right now, we have numerous resources scouring this area looking for that buck,” Chell said.
‘He shot our police officers not once but twice. He also shot an innocent woman once in the leg. That’s our situation right now.’
Heavily armed police patrol Times Square with the shooter still at large.
Investigators mark a tool the teens are believed to have dropped while fleeing.
It is the latest incident of increasing crime in this tourist spot.
A gang of seven immigrants has been accused of attacking NYPD officers in Times Square in a separate attack on January 27.
Most of them were released after their initial arrest and police have not located them since.
Only one remains detained.