A 15-year-old armed migrant who was wanted for shooting a tourist and firing at police near Times Square on Thursday will be charged as an adult with attempted murder and held without bail.
According to the New York Police Department (NYPD), the teen was charged as an adult on Friday afternoon with a slew of charges including two counts of attempted murder, assault, attempted assault and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has also requested that the teen be held without bail, noting that the evidence against him is “very strong.”
The office noted that the teen “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. The facts of this case are particularly serious, and the evidence is very strong.”
According to police, the young man arrived in New York City from Venezuela less than six months ago. He was living at a migrant shelter on the Upper West Side.
It is unclear if he was in the country, legally or illegally.
Police said that the teen was captured on security video opening fire inside a sporting goods store in Times Square after a security guard stopped him with stolen merchandise.
NEW YORK’S ‘CATCH AND RELEASE’ POLICIES FAIL TO HOLD CRIMINALS ACCOUNTABLE: POLICE REP
The shot missed the security guard but struck a female Brazilian tourist in the leg as the 15-year-old and one of the other shoplifters bolted from the scene.
The teen migrant allegedly fired at least twice at a responding police officer, while a second officer apprehended the other fleeing shoplifter, the NYPD said.
The NYPD quickly launched a search for the teen, calling him “armed and dangerous.”
On Friday, he was apprehended and taken into police custody following a short manhunt for the mayhem that erupted in New York City’s busy tourist hotspot.
His next court appearance will be on Feb. 10 at the New York Supreme Criminal Court.
2 MIGRANTS WHO STOMPED AND KICKED NYPD OFFICERS IN VICIOUS TIMES SQUARE ATTACK YET TO BE ARRESTED
“The shooting incident last night in Times Square was way beyond reckless,” Commissioner Edward Caban said at a Friday evening news conference to announce the arrest. “In the middle of the busiest, mostly highly-trafficked part of the city, a criminal with a firearm decides to pull the trigger.”
“If you think you attack a member of this department, if you think you could threaten the lives of the very people who keep us safe. If you think you could put others at deadly risk and get away with it, then think again,” Caban said. “We will never stop pursuing you. We will find you, and we will arrest you.”
WATCH:
The shooting came less than two weeks after a group of migrants attacked a pair of NYPD officers, also in Times Square.
Several suspects in that case have been indicted, but only one is being held in custody.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News’ Michael Dorgan and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
Scroll down to leave a comment:
