Two Indicted In Shooting Of Border Patrol Agent

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr. and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel on Tuesday announced that two individuals have been indicted in connection with the shooting of an off-duty Border Patrol agent in New York last month.

The suspects, Mora Nunez, 21, and Christhian Aybar‑Berroa, 22, are both illegal aliens and are liable for potential deportation, the Department of Justice has confirmed.

Nunez is facing charges of attempted murder in the first and second degrees, along with multiple counts of assault in the first degree, attempted robbery, robbery in the first and second degrees, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, according to a report from Newsmax. The charges stem from a July 19 incident that left an off-duty Border Patrol agent shot in the face not far from the George Washington Bridge in Manhattan.

Nunez illegally entered the United States through the Southern Border under the Biden Administration, DHS has confirmed. He was released due to lack of detention space in April 2023 and given a notice to appear before an immigration judge. He never showed up to his scheduled court appearance.

The attack occurred just before midnight Saturday, when the agent, identified only as a 42-year-old man, and a female companion were sitting on a rock along the Hudson River in Fort Washington Park. Surveillance camera footage of the incident shows two men pulling up on a moped before parking after they spotted the victims.

One of the men then jumped off the moped and approached the victims before shooting the agent in the face. The Border Patrol agent managed to return fire, wounding one of the suspects in the chest before he jumped back on the moped with the other assailant and sped off.

The agent was shot in the face and the arm as a result of the attack, according to the New York Police Department.

Aybar‑Berroa is believed to have driven Nunez — who has shot in the chest — to a Harlem hospital after the attack. He is further accused of attempting to discard bloody clothing after the two suspects fled on their moped.

Like Nunez, Aybar-Berroa illegally entered the United States through Texas in 2022 and was released due to lack of detention space. According to a report from the New York Post, he was arrested a total of eight times in New York City. Most of the arrests were made in connection with scooter robberies, though he was never jailed for a long period of time under the city’s “bail reform” policies.

Aybar-Berroa has been under a removal order since 2023, while Nunez has been slated for deportation since November of last year. Nunez also racked up a lengthy rap sheet that includes assault, grand larceny, and kidnapping prior to the shooting. He was also wanted in Massachusetts for armed robbery.