LEOMINSTER, Mass. — In New York City, federal authorities say two undocumented men responsible for shooting a US Customs and Border Patrol Officer over the weekend are now in custody.
The off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer was shot in a Manhattan park on Saturday following an apparent robbery gone wrong, New York City police and federal officials said.
The officer, who was not in uniform, had been sitting with a woman in a park beneath the George Washington Bridge when two men approached on a moped just before midnight. The passenger got off and approached the officer, who realized he was being robbed and drew his service weapon, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. The two exchanged gunfire and the off-duty officer was shot in the face and arm. The perpetrator was injured before he and the moped driver rode off, police said.
The 42-year-old officer was in stable condition Sunday and expected to survive. There was no indication that he was targeted because of his employment, Tisch said.
Authorities believe that case is tied to the brutal armed robbery of a pawn shop in Leominster earlier this year.
Store surveillance video from inside Sam and Friends Pawn Shop, recorded the entire armed robbery. On the afternoon of February 3rd, the video shows that while one suspect approached the owner, another jumped over a counter.
At gunpoint, they forced the owner to the ground and tied him up with duct tape, that duct tape still in place today.
The owner told me, one of the suspects twice tried to shoot him, but the gun misfired. Meanwhile the other suspect stuffed a bag with cash, guns, and jewelry.
One of the suspects hopped back over the counter.
The owner told Boston 25 that the suspect left behind a fingerprint that ultimately led to an ID.
They released a photo of one of the suspects: Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez, a Dominican National who the feds say illegally entered the US in 2023, but who was released back onto the streets where he was arrested for other violent crimes in New York.
When shown Nunez’ mugshot, the owner of Sam’s told Boston 25 News “That’s the guy who robbed me.”
A second suspect is also in custody.
“There is absolutely zero reason that someone who is scum of the earth like this should be running loose on the streets of New York City,” said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
At a news conference, top US Immigration officials blamed Sanctuary city policies.
“Sanctuary cities are sanctuaries for criminals hard stop,” US Border Czar Thomas Homan said.
The owner of Sam and Friends told me he doesn’t like talking about what happened to him back in February because it brings back painful memories.
However, he did say that he is relieved to know that both suspects are now off the streets.
In a social media post Sunday afternoon, President Donald Trump seized on the shooting as evidence of Democrats’ failures to secure the border.
“The CBP Officer bravely fought off his attacker, despite his wounds, demonstrating enormous Skill and Courage,” Trump added.
The shooting comes as federal officials warn of a surge of attacks on agents carrying out Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
As enforcement efforts have ramped up in recent months, many officers have chosen to cover their faces with the goal of avoiding harassment in public and online.
On Sunday, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Todd Lyons, said he would allow agents to continue covering their faces as a safety measure.
“If that’s a tool that the men and women of ICE that keeps themselves and their families safe, then I will allow it,” Lyons said.
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