2 NYPD Officers Shot, Injured by 19-Year-Old In Queens

QUEENS, NY —Two NYPD officers are recovering after they were shot by a 19-year-old man who was fleeing from them in Queens early Monday morning, NYPD officials said during a press conference.

At about 1:40 a.m., two patrolling police officers spotted the 19-year-old man driving a moped in the wrong direction on 82nd Street in East Elmhurst, police said.

When officers tried to pull the man over, he fled on foot and was chased for a few blocks until he suddenly took out a gun and fired at them, Police Commissioner Edward Caban said.

Officer Richard Yarusso was hit in his bulletproof vest, while officer Christopher Abreu was shot in the leg. The 26-year-old officers have since been released from Elmhurst Hospital, police said.

The shooter — identified as Bernardo Raul Castro Mata — was shot in the right ankle. He has been tied to a series of robberies in Queens, police officials said.

Castro Mata, an immigrant from Venezuela, lived at a nearby hotel on Ditmars Boulevard that is being used as a migrant shelter, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.

The unlicensed gun he allegedly used to shoot the officers was recovered at the scene, police officials said. They said Castro Mata was in stable condition and undergoing surgery at New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital.

“It’s only by the grace of God that we’re not out here talking about a terrible tragedy,” Caban said.

The gun used in the incident was unlicensed and was recovered at the scene, police said.

Castro Mata is currently in stable condition at the hospital and as of Monday afternoon has not been charged.

Mayor Eric Adams said that, thanks to Yarusso's bullet-proof vest, “a young police officer is going home.”