15-year-old accused of shooting tourist in Times Square is identified.
Officials have identified and arrested a 15-year-old who is accused of shooting a tourist in Times Square last week, six senior law enforcement officials said.
Jesus Alejandro Rivas Figueroa, a teenager from Venezuela who was last known to be staying at a migrant shelter in New York City’s Upper West Side, is being charged as an adult. He faces two counts of attempted murder, as well as assault and criminal possession of a weapon charges, according to court documents.
The shooting occurred Thursday night during an alleged shoplifting attempt at a Times Square store. Figueroa is accused of firing a gun at a security guard who confronted him and another person at the door. He missed and struck bystander's leg.
Figueroa is then alleged to have fired two rounds at a New York City police officer on 47th Street in midtown Manhattan while fleeing.
Court documents say that Figueroa returned to his home and that he and his mother packed up their belongings and fled the city. He was arrested in Yonkers 24 hours later by the U.S. Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force.
New York police said he is also wanted in connection with an armed robbery in the Bronx on Jan. 27, as well as in relation to a shots-fired call in midtown, where police recovered a shell casing.