Two Migrant Teens Stabbed; One Survives
A few minutes after 7:30pm on December 5, Yeremi Colino (age 17) and Alan Magalles Bello (age 18) were approached by a group of three men in front of 17 John Street (between Broadway and Nassau Street). Following a brief exchange of words, the NYPD says, the three unidentified men “punched and kicked” Mr. Colino and Mr. Bello, “then stabbed [Colino] in the chest with a knife.” Mr. Bello was stabbed in the arm with a screwdriver. The three men fled on foot and entered the Fulton Street subway station.
After the teens were stabbed, an employee of a pharmacy near the site of the attack attempted to aid them, dragging Mr. Colino into the store with the knife still protruding from his chest.
The NYPD spokesman said police arriving on the scene in response to a 911 call “observed a 17-year-old male with a stab wound to the chest and an 18-year-old male with stab wound to the left arm. EMS responded and transported both males to NYC Health and Hospitals/Bellevue. The 17-year-old male succumbed to his injuries and the 18-year-old male is in stable condition. There are no arrests at this time, and the investigation remains ongoing.”
In addition to the knife and screwdriver, police recovered at the scene several wooden sticks and a pair of pliers that are believed to have been used as weapons in the attack.
Mr. Colino was a recent immigrant, living in a shelter for asylum seekers in Midtown. No further information has been released about Mr. Bello. Initial reports indicated that Mr. Colino and Mr. Bello were challenged by their three assailants with the words, “do you speak English?” This led to speculation that the attack was a hate crime, spurred by anti-immigrant sentiment. Subsequent investigation has pointed detectives in a different direction, with several witnesses recounting that the three unidentified men flashed gang symbols and paraphernalia. Neither of the victims had any history of being detained by police, according to the NYPD. Detectives are now probing whether the victims and the perpetrators may have known each other, and looking into the possibility that the “do you speak English?” narrative was a fabrication.
Since the attack, the street gang Los Diablos de la 42 (named for the Midtown location of the migrant shelter where Mr. Colino lived) has been using social media to threaten violent revenge against the assailants.
The NYPD spokesman added, “the New York City Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the individuals sought in connection with this homicide. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). All calls are strictly confidential.”