(HorizonPost.com) – Two New York City police officers were injured in a running shootout with an illegal alien after they attempted to pull over his scooter for riding the wrong way down a one-way street in Queens Monday morning, NYPD officials said.
The two uniformed officers were treated and released from Elmhurst Hospital. One was hit in his Kevlar vest while the other was shot in the leg.
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry that the officer who was struck in the vest applied a tourniquet to his partner’s leg to slow the bleeding.
According to the NYPD, the suspect is 19-year-old Bernardo Raul Castro Mata, a Venezuelan national in the country illegally.
Castro Mata was shot in the ankle when the officers returned fire. He was transported to New York Presbyterian Hospital in Queens where he underwent surgery.
The gun used by Castro Mata was recovered by the police.
According to NYPD officials, Castro Mata illegally crossed the US-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas in July 2023. He had been residing at the former Mariott Courtyard on Ditmars Boulevard which is being used by city officials as a migrant shelter.
Speaking to reporters at a news conference from Elmhurst Hospital, New York Mayor Eric Adams held up the vest worn by one of the officers to show them the bullet hole. He said because he was wearing a vest, the officer would be going home.
The mayor described Castro Mata’s actions as a “senseless act of violence” that showed “a total disregard for life.”
NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban told reporters that the officers were investigating a series of robberies involving thieves on scooters and mopeds when they saw the suspect riding a scooter the wrong way on 82nd Street at around 1:40 a.m. Monday morning.
When the officers tried to pull him over, Castro Mata abandoned the scooter and fled the scene. The officers chased the suspect on foot for several blocks. Throughout the chase, Castro Mata fired several rounds at the two officers who returned fire.
According to NYPD officials, while Castro Mata had no arrest record in New York, he is a suspect in multiple robberies in Queens.
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