Second suspect arrested in the shooting of an off-duty US customs officer in a Manhattan park
Christhian Aybar-Berroa is the alleged getaway driver in the apparent robbery-gone-wrong Saturday, according to New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. He is expected to appear in federal court in Manhattan later Monday.
Aybar-Berroa's alleged accomplice, Miguel Mora, was taken into custody Sunday after arriving at a Bronx hospital with gunshot wounds to the groin and leg.
The 42-year-old customs officer, who was not in uniform, had been sitting with a woman in a park beneath the George Washington Bridge in upper Manhattan when two men approached on a moped, according to police
When he realized he was being robbed, the officer drew his service weapon. He and the suspects fired at each other: The officer was shot in the face and arm while the suspect was shot before he and the moped driver fled, police said.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, in a separate announcement Monday, said the officer, who has not been identified by authorities, is recovering in a hospital and is expected to survive. He works for Customs and Border Protection, whose officers dress in blue and are stationed at airports and land crossings. Border Patrol agents in green uniforms patrol mountains and deserts for illegal crossings.
No lawyers were listed for Aybar-Berroa or Moro on the federal court case database and a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan didn't immediately comment.
Authorities say both suspects entered the country illegally from the Dominican Republic and have extensive criminal histories in their short time in the U.S.
The police commissioner said Aybar-Berroa arrived in 2022 and he has been arrested eight times for grand larceny and other crimes, and is a suspect in at least four other cases.
The Homeland Security chief said Aybar-Berroa was ordered deported by a federal immigration judge in 2023, but immigration detainers were ignored. She blamed New York City authorities for releasing him before federal officials could take custody of him.
He was 'arrested again and again and again,' Noem said. 'What did we think was going to happen?'
Moro, she added, has a 'rap sheet a mile long' that includes grand larceny, assault and kidnapping charges.
Police said Sunday he entered the country illegally through Arizona in 2023 and had two prior arrests for domestic violence in New York. He is also wanted in New York to face accusations of robbery and felony assault, and in Massachusetts over a stolen weapons case.
'There is absolutely zero reason that someone like this — that's the scum of the earth — should be running loose on the streets of New York City,' Noem said at a press conference at CBP's Manhattan office.
Mayor Eric Adams, at a separate press conference, distanced himself from the so-called sanctuary city policies that Noem and other federal officials on Monday blamed for the shooting.
New York and other cities have longstanding laws and policies that limit or restrict local government involvement in federal immigration matters.
'I'm not protecting them," said the Democratic mayor, a former police captain who is running for reelection. "I've always been clear: stop the revolving door system. Go after the dangerous migrants and asylum seekers.'
___
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
CNN host laughs at Republican senator as he fact-checks him on Epstein ‘sweetheart' deal
CNN's Jake Tapper repeatedly fact-checked a Republican senator on air Sunday as the lawmaker insisted that Democrats and Barack Obama's administration were at fault for a 'sweetheart' deal that allowed Jeffrey Epstein to escape his 2008 conviction on child sex charges virtually unscathed. Sen. Markwayne Mullin appeared on CNN's State of the Union and repeatedly claimed that a plea agreement to keep Epstein from being charged federally for child sex crimes was signed in 2009, under the Obama administration. But Epstein's plea agreement was drafted in 2007 and signed in 2008, when he pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for sex, before Obama was even president. 'It was 2008,' Tapper corrected him, chuckling. Tapper noted that the U.S. attorney who oversaw the non-prosecution agreement was Alex Acosta, who went on become Donald Trump's secretary of labor during his first administration. 'It all took place in 2008,' Tapper said. Mullin then shot back, asking 'who was in office at the time?' — seemingly making the error of assuming that Obama was the president. Obama won the presidential election that year but was inaugurated in January 2009. 'In 2008, George W. Bush was the president,' Tapper said, as he was cut off by Mullin repeating his question. 'George W. Bush.' Mullin went on to insist that because the case was 'sealed in 2009' that Democrats were somehow involved. A clearly exasperated Tapper responded that 'the point is, the 'sweetheart deal', which was completed in 2008, was under the Bush administration.' The plea agreement inked between Acosta and Epstein's attorney, Alan Dershowitz, was staggering in its leniency. Epstein was allowed to leave the prison facility for hours at a time for 'work release' to the headquarters of a nebulous enterprise called the 'Florida Science Foundation' he founded shortly before beginning his sentence and shut down when it concluded. Inside the prison, Epstein was allowed to maintain his own office, just as he'd done at Harvard University for years, while watching television and was watched by guards who wore suits and were partially on his payroll. Mullin and other Republicans closely aligned with the president are treading a careful line on the issue of the Epstein investigation. The Trump administration ignited a firestorm early in July when the Department of Justice and FBI announced that the agencies would not release any more documents related to the Epstein investigation despite having promised to do so. The agencies cited a refusal to release identifying information about victims and graphic sexual imagery involving children. Most glaringly, the agencies also declared in that early July announcement that a so-called 'client list' of Epstein's alleged co-conspirators had not been found. Having latched on to the issue long before Trump was elected to a second term, his MAGA base descended into chaos. Many of the president's 2024 supporters called the reversal a betrayal by the administration, while some questioned whether Trump himself was involved in a cover-up to protect himself or other powerful men named as Epstein's accomplices in the files. Some Democrats latched on to the issue at the same time, joining calls for transparency. Then, a pair of articles in The Wall Street Journal purported to outline Trump's own connections to the investigation. The newspaper reported the contents of a message allegedly penned by Trump to Epstein as part of a 50th birthday celebration in 2003, including allusions to a 'secret.' Trump firmly denied authoring the note, and sued the newspaper and its reporters in response. A second article from the WSJ days later reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi informed Trump in May that he was mentioned in the Epstein investigation multiple times, thought it was not clear in what context The White House called that story 'fake' and has repeatedly insinuated that Democrats including Joe Biden tampered with the Epstein files in response. Being mentioned in the files does not mean wrongdoing, and hundreds of names are reportedly included. Republicans on Capitol Hill are caught in the middle. Some are joining on to a bipartisan effort led by Thomas Massie — a Republican who clashed with the president over the GOP budget reconciliation package earlier this year — and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna to force the Justice Department to release the entirety of its document trove, with redactions for child sexual assault material and the names or identifying information of victims. Others more aligned with leadership, including House Speaker Mike Johnson. But Johnson and others have been careful not to label the Epstein story a distraction, to the White House's annoyance. Johnson called the August recess early this past week, sending lawmakers home for the month to avoid a vote legislation from Massie and Khanna.
Daily Mail
5 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Bomb squad deployed after suspicious package discovered near White House
A bomb squad was deployed to investigate what authorities have called a 'suspicious package' located near the White House, before ultimately giving the all-clear. Officers cordoned off the area and restricted pedestrian and vehicle traffic as specialists from the Metropolitan Police Department's Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) unit examined the object on Sunday evening. The Secret Service confirmed that the package was located just outside a security perimeter near the executive mansion. But after a closer investigation, the area was cleared and roads were reopened. It remains unclear whether the package was dangerous.
BBC News
5 minutes ago
- BBC News
Walmart stabbing suspect faces terrorism charges in mass attack at Michigan store
A 42-year-old man is facing charges of terrorism and assault with intent to murder after 11 shoppers were stabbed at a Walmart supermarket in the US state of assailant used a folding knife to stab five men and six women, including a Walmart employee, on Saturday afternoon in Traverse victims, ranging in age from 21 to 84, are all expected to survive. The suspect, Bradford James Gille, is due to be arraigned on Monday or said the stabbings were random and they are yet to reveal a motive, but they said a terrorism charge was justified because such a mass attack was believed to be intended to bring fear and destruction to the community as a whole. Addressing reporters on Sunday, Grand Traverse County Sheriff Michael Shea said the first officers arrived at the store two minutes after the first call came through."At the time of the deputy's arrival, multiple citizens, including one who was armed with a pistol, were confronting the male suspect in the parking lot and preventing him from harming further people and leaving," he said. "The deputy took the suspect into custody without further incident."He added that the suspect's motive was "yet to be determined". "Our detectives, with assistance from the FBI, interviewed him at length, and that will be part of the investigation as it moves forward," he Pennington, a Walmart spokesperson, said: "Violence like this is unacceptable. "Our thoughts are with those who were injured and we're thankful for the swift action of first responders."FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said on Saturday that federal personnel were responding to provide any necessary support to local Governor Gretchen Whitmer said: "Our thoughts are with the victims and the community reeling from this brutal act of violence."Traverse City is about 255 miles (410km) north-west of Detroit.
