It could have ended much worse.
NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said he believes at least one of the Bronx squatters who were busted for firearms and drugs last week would have shot at cops if quick-acting officers hadn’t moved to disarm the individual.
The March 27 raid at the basement of a home on 207th Street and Hull Avenue led to police finding eight people illegally residing there while also harboring four guns — one of which was a ghost gun — and drugs consisting of cocaine and ketamine. The illegal drug and gun stash was all within reach of a seven-year-old child living at the location.
Following the raid, six of the eight suspects ended up being released. According to the New York Post, federal agents returned to the basement on Wednesday to make more arrests.
A week after the incident, the NYPD released further information regarding their first visit to the residence, which occurred just two days after Police Officer Jonathan Diller was shot and killed in the line of duty in Queens.
At the Bronx location, police found 24-year-old Hector Desousa Villalta allegedly aiming a gun at another person. Cops chased Desousa Villalta into the basement, where a group of Venezuelan migrants were found to be squatting.
It was here that police spotted 22-year-old Javier Alborno trying to sneak away with a handgun under his armpit. Chief Chell believes that things could have turned potentially deadly for cops had cops not quickly discovered Alborno and moved to stop him.
“He’s got the gun under his armpit. He turns towards the sergeant, that red circle is him going for that gun. That sergeant takes him down and that gun falls to the floor,” Chief Chell said. “There’s an extended clip on that gun.”
Police say they believe Alborno would have shot at responding cops if the sergeant hadn’t quickly tackled him, resulting in what could have had deadly consequences.
Police officials said Desousa Villalta was apparently cuffed in Yonkers last August for shooting a man in the leg during a dispute over a woman; he was slapped with an attempted murder charge. However, he ended up being released back on the street after his victim did not want to take action against him.
Meanwhile, Alborno had been arrested in September 2023 for possession of a loaded firearm and had been released on bail following that arrest prior to his March 27 collar.
On Wednesday, Chief Chell continued to express his outrage that both men had been released back onto the street.
“This is three against eight in a basement apartment,” Chell said. “Confronting two people, quite frankly, that should not have been out on the street. We should not have been there. This is two days after Detective Diller’s murder.”
