A Bronx shooting that killed two people sprang from a violent fight between migrant squatters and disgruntled legal residents of the apartment building, and the migrant suspect is now on the run, authorities said.
Police are looking for Josue Ruben Silva, 21, who already has an extensive criminal record, in connection with the fatal shooting on May 24.
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Silva “was among a group of migrants that had been squatting inside the building” when one longstanding tenant, Claretha Daniels, 44, told her friends that one of the asylum seekers had mistreated her, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters on Tuesday.
“So, basically what you have now is the older residents from the building that have lived there for some time. Come to her aid,” said Kenny.
“The new arrivals run into the building; they come back with their crew, which is armed with bats, knives, and all sorts of weapons.”
Everett Slade, one of the tenants, got into a fight with one of the migrants, who took the brunt of the exchange, which is when Silva pulled out a gun and opened fire, according to the chief.
Daniels and another man, Justin Lawless, sustained fatal chest wounds, while Slade sustained an arm wound. Silva then allegedly fled the area, prompting a manhunt.
According to Kenny, tensions between tenants and squatters had been rising in the days leading up to the shooting.
“Witness statements say that these [migrant] guys are taking over several apartments in the building,” he stated. “They’ve lived there for the past six months. They broke into abandoned, uninhabited apartments.
According to law enforcement officials, Silva, who has been arrested a half dozen times this year on robbery, theft, and weapons charges, is also a person of interest in a number of migrant moped cases.
According to a source close to the investigation, Silva unlawfully crossed the US-Mexico border in May 2023 before being apprehended and placed in a shelter.
However, the fleeing migrant may use an alias and be as young as 17 years old.
