STATEN ISLAND — A man suspected of fatally shooting a mother and her son in front of their Mariners Harbor apartment building was shot several times by police officers while being arrested in Pennsylvania, the NYPD said.
Anthony Morales, 41, was arrested in Hamburg, Pa., for the murder of Anthony Rivera, 21, and his mother Idelle Rivera, 47, outside the Mariner's Harbor Houses at 14 Roxbury St. on Friday, Chief of Detective Robert Boyce said.
Officers spotted Morales inside his car parked in at about 11:12 p.m. lot beside the Appalachian hiking trail when they approached him and asked him to step out, according to Boyce and Pennsylvania State Police.
"At this point, he made the sign of the cross and then he pulled out a gun," Boyce said.
An NYPD detective, a U.S. Marshal and a Berks County sheriff fired and struck Morales several times, Boyce said.
He was transported to Reading Hospital in stable condition, according to Pennsylvania State Police.
Last week, Anthony Rivera was working on his car with his 22-year-old friend outside of their apartment building when their neighbor Morales opened fired on them, according to family and the NYPD.
Rivera was hit three times in the head and his friend was struck three times in the leg, police said.
Idelle Rivera was nearby and rushed over, but tried to reverse direction and flee when Morales shot her once in the head, police and family said.
The Riveras were taken to Richmond University Medical Center and pronounced dead, police said. The friend was treated for critical injuries and listed in stable condition.
