(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The Brazilian tourist who fell victim to a shooting by a 15-year-old illegal alien in Times Square shared the harrowing details of her ordeal in a candid interview, shedding light on an incident that local authorities say could have turned deadly.
Tatiele Ribeiro Lemons, a Brazilian national, was inside JD Sports clothing store when Jesus Alejandro Rivas-Figueroa, a 15-year-old Venezuelan national, allegedly opened fire after being caught shoplifting by a security guard in Times Square, New York City.
The youngster shot Lemons, narrowly missing the security guard.
A distraught Lemons sent a voice message to her husband in Brazil, informing him of the shooting. “My love, I’ve been shot, my love! I am going to send you my location, my love. Help! Help!” Lemons said in a Portuguese-language audio messege.
Lemons and her husband, Luis Fernando Orosz, appeared for an interview with Brazilian outlet EPTV, where she expressed her belief that the shooting would end her life.
“I believe I was born again, a bad experience but, thank God, I’m happy to be alive,” she told G1 magazine (an affiliate of EPTV). “I was very shaken, with a bad feeling that you thought you were going to die. Horrible, even more so outside your country.”
Lemons received medical assistance at a nearby hospital, initially unaware that she had been shot but began feeling dizzy and experiencing a sharp pain in her leg.
UPDATE: 15 year-old Venezuelan illegal,
Jesus Alejandro Rivas Figueroa
accused of opening fire in Midtown, Manhattan has been charged with two counts of attempted murder, assault, attempted assault and criminal possession of a weapon.Rivas-Figueroa was charged as an adult.
He… pic.twitter.com/uKfZFnV2hm
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) February 11, 2024
Shortly after the shooting, the Venezuelan teen, assisted by two other individuals, fled the store but not before allegedly shooting at NYPD officers who pursued him into a train station. The police lost track of the alleged perpetrator after he boarded a train.
He was eventually apprehended by U.S. Marshals in a highly televised capture in the upstate region of Yonkers, New York. Video footage of the arrest depicted the teen sobbing while a woman pleaded, “My child, my child,” in Spanish.
🚨| URGENTE: Detienen a un adolescente de 15 años venezolano identificado como Jesús Alejandro Rivas-Figueroa, por tiroteo en Times Square, Nueva York; dónde resultó herido un turista y provocó un enfrentamiento con la policía. ¡Yo aplaudo esta mano de hierro policial! Y tú. 👏🏼 pic.twitter.com/xyyaP5pvMv
— Eduardo Menoni (@eduardomenoni) February 10, 2024
City prosecutors charged the young man as an adult with attempted murder.
The teen had previously resided at a taxpayer-funded shelter in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan.
TIMES SQUARE SHOOTER: Manhunt underway for 15 year old migrant who allegedly shot a tourist and fired multiple times at cops after attempting to rob a store. He’s been identified as Jesus Alejandro Rivas Figueroa. #NYPD #NewYork #NYC #NewYorkCity pic.twitter.com/64YveeY40v
— Jonathan Choe Journalist (Seattle) (@choeshow) February 9, 2024
