The mother of a teen suspect shot and critically wounded by police in an altercation that led to an injury of an NYPD sergeant expressed that she doesn’t blame the officers for “doing their job.” However, she is tormented by the struggles she’s encountered in securing the necessary help for her son—who has consistently battled mental health issues and anger management—to adequately address his needs.
Responding to a call about an armed robbery in the Bronx late Thursday, police discharged their weapons when 18-year-old Antonio Morales, who was armed and resisting, knocked a sergeant to the ground, resulting in a head injury, according to police reports.
“I am not angry with the police for fulfilling their duties. That is their role. That’s what they’re meant to do. I’m not going to overlook or claim [my son] did nothing wrong. He was indeed in the wrong,” stated the mother, who preferred to remain unnamed.
“I just wish that it didn’t have to end this way. This didn’t have to happen.”
She lamented the lack of available resources to manage his mental health condition, which often resulted in quick bouts of anger, reflecting a familiar concern in New York City. She recounted that her son had been dealing with anger issues and mental illness from a young age. While therapy and medication had been effective temporarily, he recently abandoned them against her wishes.
“He decided therapy wasn’t benefiting him anymore, so he just didn’t want to continue,” she explained. “He used to attend therapy almost every other week, sometimes weekly depending on his needs, and received medication monthly.”
The mother said she tried her best to get Morales the help he needed but at a certain point her hands were tied.
“I can no longer compel him to take medication. I can only offer it to him, and it’s up to him if he chooses to take it. I can’t force it on him. I’m half his size…” she expressed.
In 2023, she said she called police asking them to admit Morales, who was just 16 at the time, into the psych ward at Jacobi Hospital but he was released within a day.
“It’s not like I haven’t been vocal about him having mental health issues and anger issues since he was little,” she added.
She said she also reached out to the city’s Administration for Children’s Services, to see about getting Morales placed into a group home for young people suffering mental illness, but she couldn’t front the bill.
“This is what it is.,” she said.
Growing up, she recalled, Morales was an energetic kid who loved to dance, she said.
“He was very very hyper. His brain didn’t know how to wind down. How they explained it to me, his brain is like reversed. Instead of it winding down when he’s tired his just keeps going,” she said. “He was always a pretty independent kid growing up. He always did things for himself. Very close with his brother always. They weren’t street kids at all. Whatever they did they did with their family.”
It wasn’t until Morales went through a traumatic experience when he began high school that the mother noticed his mental health really begin to deteriorate. When Morales, who was 14 at the time, was “jumped” by a grown man near his school, she said no one intervened to help so his older brother jumped in and was seriously injured.
His brother recovered, but Morales never did, she said.
“It was a switch in him, more or less like, ‘People don’t care the way I thought they did,’” she explained. “So whenever he feels disrespected or anything he will speak back and he will be vocal. As far as trying to physically hurt people he was never that kid. He would be verbal with his mouth, but he wasn’t the kid to charge or try to hurt someone.”
Vincent Vallelong, the president of the Sergeants’ Benevolent Association, said Morales, “had a violent criminal history and posed a serious threat to society,” at a press conference early Friday morning.
Morales was arrested January 8 for attempted murder in an incident involving a 15-year-old. Morales, who was 17 at the time, was released after paying $35,000 bail, according to court papers. Morales has also been a victim of a shooting and has been listed as a witness in two other acts of violence, according to police sources with knowledge of the case.
His mother said despite his mental health struggles, Morales had recently completed an OSHA training course, and was interested in working in some kind of trade. He was a couple courses away from obtaining his GED.
“He was pretty much doing okay up until now. [He was trying] to be better. I don’t know how it got here,” she said.
Now she hopes he’ll survive the gunshot wounds that left him on a ventilator, in critical condition at Jacobi Hospital.
A bullet remains lodged in his lower back and in his right armpit. Doctors were still doing CAT scans on Friday to determine whether or not they would do surgery to remove the bullets, she said.
Criminal charges against Morales were still pending Saturday.
“I didn’t expect this out of him. I’m just trying to roll with the punches for right now. We’ll see how everything’s gonna unfold,” she said. “My worst nightmare is coming to light.”
