A teenager gunman burst into tears as he was hauled away in handcuffs for allegedly shooting a tourist in the leg after opening fire in Times Square.
Jesus Alejandro Rivas Figueroa, 15, a migrant from Venezuela, was arrested by US Marshals in Yonkers after a nearly day-long manhunt.
NYPD Deputy Chief of Detectives Jason Savino called him a ‘very, very violent’ suspect who recklessly fired in a crowded area of New York City.
Figueroa is accused of firing at a security guard who confiscated a coat he and two friends tried to steal from JD Sports Store on West 42nd Street and Broadway.
The bullet missed and hit a 38-year-old Brazilian tourist who was waiting in line to buy a pair of sneakers about 7.15pm on Thursday.
Jesus Alejandro Rivas Figueroa, 15, burst into tears as he was hauled away in handcuffs for shooting a tourist in the leg after opening fire in Times Square
The teenage migrant from Venezuela was arrested by US Marshals in Yonkers after a nearly day-long manhunt
He fled through Times Square, allegedly firing wildly two times at police who chased after him with no regard for the thick crowd of shoppers.
Savino alleged Figueroa fired twice at pursing cops, once firing blind over his shoulder as he ran ‘something potentially so dangerous’.
‘Our shooter had no regard for anyone in the area, really as reckless as we’ve seen,’ he said.
Savino said he shot at the officers who pursued him through the streets of Midtown ‘without a thought for who he might hit or kill’.
‘It’s an actual miracle we’re not having a different conversation right now.’
Savino thanked the US Marshals for ‘taking such a dangerous subject off our streets so he can no longer harm anyone else’.
He said the alleged shooter may have a family connection to Yonkers, but it was still unclear.
Police said Figueroa was staying at the Stratford Hotel, blocks from Times Square and which is being used as a migrant shelter, and entered the US in September.
After allegedly shooting the tourist and at police, Figueroa escaped into the 49th Street subway station while one of his friends was arrested without incident.
The NPD offered $13,500 reward in their hunt
At just 15, Rivas Figueroa is already also wanted in two other crimes – an armed robbery in the Bronx from January 27 and another shooting in Midtown.
Chief of Patrol John Chell said on Friday that police have also identified the two other teen boys who are persons of interest. The other two boys are 15 and 16, but have not been named.
The New York Police Department is offering a $13,500 reward in their hunt for a gunman, Jesus Alejandro Rivas Figueroa
Rivas Figueroa is a 15-year-old migrant from Venezuela who entered the country in September
Police were seen outside The Stewart hotel on Friday as they search for the alleged gunman, believed to be a migrant between 15 and 20 years old
Police are offering a $13,500 reward in their hunt for the gunman who injured a Brazilian tourist and shot at cops as they chased him
Chell said police are calling the 15-year-old a person of interest and are still determining what his involvement, if any, was. He was detained shortly after shooting as Rivas Figueroa got away.
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 NYC 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 female guard asked for their receipts and one of the group walked out of the shop empty-handed, but the other two stayed.
The guard then grabbed a shopping bag that contained a coat they were allegedly trying to steal, and approached the other teenager.
The NYPD is hunting a thief who opened fire inside JD Sports in Times Square night, injuring a tourist before fleeing
The guard asked for their receipts and one of the group walked out of the shop empty-handed, but the other two stayed
The young man then opened fire against the guard, but instead hit a 37-year-old Brazilian woman in the leg, just above the knee, as she was shopping inside the store with a friend.
After she was shot, the tourist limped to a storage room and barricaded herself inside as the security guard left the teenagers and rushed to her aid. She was seen being taken away by an ambulance in footage from the scene.
The gunman, described as a Hispanic make, also shot 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 into the 49th Street subway station.
Police have also released the above image of the shooting suspect as they hunt for him
‘Mid-block on 47th Street, there was a cut between the Fox buildings. As the perpetrator goes in there, he turns one time and fires at our officer. Our officer draws his weapon, but he cannot fire, too many people around,’ Chell said.
‘There’s too many people ducking. As the male in the white goes farther into the cut, under his armpit, he fires his second shot at our officer. Again, our officer does not return fire.’
The pair left a trail of clothes at West 48th Street and Sixth Avenue.
Police say the alleged gunman fled into a subway station at 46th Street and Sixth Avenue and surveillance video shows him running onto the train’s tracks before exiting the subway system.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry tweeted: ‘An attack on a cop is an attack on all of us! This coward shot at a hard working, innocent New Yorker and then opened fire on one of our officers. … This individual continues to pose a danger and must be caught immediately.’
The Brazilian tourist was seen being taken away by an ambulance in footage from the scene
The suspects left a trail of clothes at West 48th Street and Sixth Avenue
Witnesses tied the victim’s shirt around her leg as makeshift tourniquet as staff and other shoppers huddled in the store’s back room.
The tourist was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in a stable condition and a policeman who ran out of breath while chasing the suspects was taken to New York-Presbyterian.
Police said the alleged gunman was last seen wearing a white baseball hat, white coat and white pants.
‘At this point, we have numerous resources scouring this area looking for that male,’ Chell said.
‘He shot at our cops not once but twice. He also shot an innocent female one time in the leg. That’s where we stand right now.’
Heavily armed police patrol Times Square with the shooter still at large
Investigators mark a tool believed to have been dropped by the teens as they fled
It is the latest incident of spiraling crime at the tourist hotspot.
A gang of seven migrants has been indicted for attacking NYPD officers in Times Square in a separate attack on January 27.
Most of them were released after their initial arrest and have not been located by cops since.
Only one remains in custody.
