Migrant charged with attempted murder of police officer – NBC New York

A 19-year-old migrant living in a Queens shelter is charged with multiple counts of attempted murder of a police officer, assault and other crimes in connection with a shooting that injured two police officers earlier this week, investigators said Wednesday.

Bernardo Castro-Mata of Venezuela was shot in the ankle when police returned fire. He is scheduled to be arraigned later Wednesday. Law enforcement sources said Castro-Mata came to the U.S. in 2023 and was staying at the Ditmas Boulevard migrant shelter. Information on his attorney was not immediately available.

The police officers he allegedly shot – one in the bulletproof vest, one in the leg – were treated and released from the hospital. The two were investigating a series of moped and scooter robberies in which Castro-Mata was suspected when they spotted a man on a moped heading the wrong way in East Elmhurst around 1:30 a.m. Monday.

The man, later identified as Castro-Mata, got off his moped and fled on foot. The two 26-year-old NYPD officers gave chase and claim Castro-Mata fired shots at them during the pursuit. A firearm was recovered at the scene.

New York City officials provide an update at a press conference on the shooting of two NYPD officers early Monday morning.

According to investigators, the 19-year-old has never been arrested in New York City before, but is considered a suspect in two brutal robberies on May 21 in Queens. In both cases, the suspects, riding their mopeds, violently robbed their victims of various items, including handbags, phones and bank cards, three senior police officials testified.

“The patterns we’re currently seeing in Queens that he’s involved in are phone thefts, in one case a woman was assaulted and her debit card was stolen, and eventually it was used in a tobacco shop,” said NYPD Chief Joseph Kenny.

Police say they are investigating more than 80 robberies involving scooters and mopeds across the city – four times as many as in the same period last year. There were no such crime patterns in 2022.

While overall crime is declining, robberies are on the rise, with moped thefts being a major factor. A police official said the department has seized more than 13,000 mopeds so far in 2024, and nearly 55,000 since 2022.

Mayor Eric Adams visited the officers in the hospital on Monday and later called the shooting “senseless.”