American Military News by Sheetal Banchariya - New York Daily News and Thomas Tracy - New York Daily News June 28, 2024
A migrant accused of shooting and wounding two NYPD cops in Queens told authorities firing at police was “common practice” back home in Venezuela — although he claimed he didn’t mean to open fire, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Bernardo Raul Castro Mata, who prosecutors say shot the officers after being caught zipping the wrong way down a one-way Queens street on a scooter back on June 3, admitted to authorities he is a member of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
While he said it wasn’t a big deal for gang members and police in his native country to swap shots, he claims his gun just “went off” when Officers Richard Yarusso and Christopher Abreu tried to stop him on 82nd Street near 23rd Avenue in East Elmhurst, prosecutors said.
“My friend Jose might have given me a bag with a gun in it and asked me to keep it for him,” the 20-year-old Castro Mata, a delivery man for Door Dash, told investigators. “I knew there was a gun in the bag. When the cops stopped me, I ran because I was scared. I stopped and took out the gun to show the officer, and the round went off.”
“I did not pull the trigger,” he added. “The gun was ready when my friend gave it to me. The gun went off once.”
Castro Mata’s claims were recounted in Queens Supreme Criminal Court on Wednesday, where he was arraigned on a 20-count indictment of attempted murder and other charges. If found guilty, he could spend the next 80 years in prison.
More:
https://americanmilitarynews.com/2024/06/migrant-who-shot-nypd-cops-says-thats-common-practice-back-in-venezuela-prosecutors-say/
