Teenage migrant who shot two police officers is suspected of several robberies in Queens: indictment in New York

Bernardo Raúl Castro Mata, a 19-year-old migrant, was accused of shooting two NYPD police officers who were chasing him yesterday for driving a motorcycle in the wrong direction in Queens.

Castro Mata was also injured and has apparently been involved in several robberies. According to The New York Times, Around 1:30 a.m. Monday, two New York police officers tried to stop him because he was riding a motorcycle the wrong way down a street near LaGuardia Airport.

Castro Mata entered the United States without immigration documents in Eagle Pass (Texas) last July, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, highlighted PIX11News.

Officers were patrolling the area, in East Elmhurst, as part of an effort to address a recent series of robberies involving people on motorcycles and scooters, NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Cabán said at a news conference.

When officers tried to stop the suspect, he got off the motorcycle and ran, the commissioner said. When they caught up with him after chasing him for several blocks on foot, the man fired several shots at them and they responded.

One officer was shot in the leg, authorities said; the other was hit in the front of his bulletproof vest. They were taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens for treatment and later released. Castro Mata was shot in the right ankle. He was taken to the same hospital, where he was detained.

“This is a bullet hole,” Mayor Eric Adams said at the news conference as he showed off the bulletproof vest. “Thanks to this vest, a young police officer is going home.”

The motorcycle Mata was riding was not registered, Kenny said at the news conference. He had not previously been arrested in New York City, but he is a suspect in several robberies that followed a similar pattern in Queens, he added. He had until recently been staying at a migrant shelter on Ditmars Boulevard in Queens, authorities said.

The number of shootings in the city has decreased significantly so far this year compared to 2023, police statistics show. As of May 26, 375 people had been shot in the city this year, a 12% drop compared to the same period last year.

Shootings are rare in East Elmhurst, which is within the 115th Precinct. None had happened in the area this year as of May 26, police statistics show, and only two people were shot in the precinct during the same period last year.

But the number of robberies has increased almost 34% through May 26, from 107 to 143, compared to the same period last year. Across the city, scooters and motorcycles are being used to commit a growing number of crimes, Kenny noted.

Hours later, two girls were shot last night while playing in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Apparently they were random victims of a confrontation between gang members. In that neighborhood the homicide rate has tripled this year.

The immigration crisis has marked Mayor Adams’ administration, in the midst of a national political battle between Democrats and Republicans. In September, the mayor declared that the massive arrival of immigrants will “destroy” the city, alleging a lack of resources and support from the Joe Biden government.