Feds charge 2 men in Manhattan shooting of Border Patrol officer

Federal prosecutors said they have charged two men accused of shooting an off-duty U.S. Border Patrol agent in Upper Manhattan last weekend.

Miguel Mora Nunez and Christhian Aybar-Berroa were arrested in connection to the Saturday shooting of an unidentified officer with U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Fort Washington Park. The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan said both Mora Nunez and Aybar-Berroa are from the Dominican Republic and are in the United States illegally.

On Friday, the Manhattan district attorney's office said it also plans to bring state charges in the case.

Law enforcement officials said the two men had committed a robbery just before midnight Saturday and then approached the 42-year-old Border Patrol agent, who was sitting in the park nearby with his girlfriend. Mora Nunez allegedly drew a gun and exchanged fire with the agent, though it’s unclear who shot first or what immediately preceded the gunfire. A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office did not immediately respond to follow-up questions.

The incident led to federal officials promising to “flood the zone” with immigration agents.

“Miguel Mora Nunez and Christhian Aybar-Berroa came to a New York City park and Mora Nunez opened fire — hitting a federal officer in the face,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement.

Mora Nunez, 21, is charged with one count of possession of ammunition by an illegal alien, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years, prosecutors said. Aybar-Berroa, 22, is charged with accessory after the fact, which carries a maximum sentence of seven-and-a-half years.

Police say Mora Nunez and Aybar-Berroa drove up to the agent and the woman on a moped and Mora Nunez approached them. A gunfight broke out: Mora Nunez shot the officer in his arm and face and the officer fired his service weapon, striking Mora Nunez in his leg and groin, according to authorities.

The federal agent was taken to a hospital and is in stable condition, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Officials said Aybar-Berroa dropped Mora Nunez off at a hospital in the Bronx, laying him down in the emergency room parking area, and then took off again on the moped. Mora Nunez was treated for his wounds and questioned by police shortly afterward at the hospital.

Authorities located and arrested Aybar-Berroa in Queens early in the morning of July 21.

No trial date has been set for either suspect.