Officials have identified and arrested a 15-year-old for allegedly shooting a tourist in Times Square earlier this week, six senior law enforcement officials tell NBC News.
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, during which Figueroa allegedly fired a gun at a security guard who confronted him and another individual at the door. He missed and struck the leg of a bystander.
Figueroa then allegedly fired two rounds at a New York City police officer on 47th Street in midtown Manhattan while fleeing the scene.
Court documents say Figueroa returned to his home and 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.
The New York Police Department said he is also wanted for an armed robbery on Jan. 27 in the Bronx, as well as for a shots-fired call in midtown, where police recovered a shell casing.
