A deadly shooting outside a New York City migrant shelter Sunday may be linked to the notorious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, New York Post reported.
Gunmen on scooters allegedly fatally shot a 21-year-old Venezuelan asylum seeker named Enny De Jesus just outside a Brooklyn shelter around 11 p.m., escalating a turf war between rival migrant gangs. The incident is reportedly linked to the notorious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and a splinter group composed of former gang members, according to the New York Post. The shooting also critically injured a 59-year-old man who had recently arrived at the shelter.
NYC: “A pair of scooter-riding masked gunmen were behind a shooting outside a Brooklyn migrant shelter that left one asylum seeker dead and the other critical — in what sources said could be a Tren de Aragua gang-related hit.” https://t.co/RvnA87dRty
— Illegal Alien Crimes (@ImmigrantCrimes) July 22, 2024
“We were sitting here, joking and everything like that. We were celebrating a birthday. The two guys came on the motorcycle and shot him — four, five times. The two guys had masks,” Venezuelan migrant named Angel said in a statement, New York Post reported. “I was here. They shot from the bike and kept going.” (RELATED: REPORT: Armed Group Storm Wedding, Kill At Least 21 People In Barbaric Way)
The gunmen specifically targeted De Jesus, who was hit multiple times. The older victim appears to have been an unintended casualty, caught in the crossfire, the outlet reported. Authorities took a person of interest into custody after the suspects were involved in a scooter accident shortly after the shooting. However, one suspect managed to flee the scene and remains at large.
EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Migrants from Venezuela sit by a makeshift fire to warm up as they wait to enter and seek asylum in El Paso, Texas from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico on April 2, 2024. (Photo by CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA/AFP via Getty Images)
The Tren de Aragua has been involved in various criminal activities across New York City, including armed robberies and violent assaults, often utilizing scooters to execute their crimes, according to the New York Post. No charges have been filed and police are investigating whether this incident is connected to another shooting that occurred just minutes earlier in a nearby park, which also resulted in a fatality.
