NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Police raided a migrant shelter at Randall’s Island in search of guns and drugs on Friday following a triple shooting that left a woman dead earlier this week.
“The safety and security of all New Yorkers, and every single person in our care, is our top priority,” NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry wrote on X. “To that end, NYPD has commenced an operation at the Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center at Randall’s Island to remove any dangerous contraband from the shelter.”
Public safety concerns, recent shootings, and violence prompted the NYPD search of Randall's Island migrant center for weapons, contraband, and other illegal activity, including potential gang activity, sources told 1010 WINS/WCBS 880. There are five tents and nearly 3,000 people living there.
“Temporarily displacing and conducting a police raid on 3,000 new arrivals despite today’s heat advisory not only raises serious constitutional questions but is draconian and fuels dangerous xenophobic sentiment,” The Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless said in a joint statement in response to the raid. “These actions just further compound the trauma our clients and other shelter residents have already endured both during their journeys to New York and in their home countries because of their sexual and gender identities, political affiliations, and otherwise.”
Police evacuated the center and provided cooling buses, water, and ambulances on standby to search for weapons, contraband, and illegal substances, according to sources.
The Legal Aid Society also claimed that "for months, NYPD brass has falsely warned of a ‘migrant crime wave’ sweeping New York City, but the data does not support this rhetoric. This maneuver, cynically, is just another ploy to appease certain vocal opponents of shelters for new arrivals, reduce the shelter census, and appear ‘tough on crime."
The triple shooting which prompted the raid happened on Aug. 1 when Sandra Serrano, 44, was killed, police said. Her most recent address is listed as the shelter on Randall's Island. Serrano suffered gunshot wounds to the face and back. She was pronounced dead at NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem.
Sandra Serrano, 44, was killed in the shooting, police said Wednesday. Photo credit NYPD A 32-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman were also wounded in the shooting, which unfolded around 3:30 a.m. at Field 71 under the Triborough Bridge. The man was shot in the throat, while the woman was shot in the back, police said. They were in stable condition at NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem.
It's unclear what sparked the shooting or who was the target. According to WABC-TV , it happened during a celebration on the field near the shelter. The NYPD was searching for two male suspects; one fled in a car with New Mexico plates, and the other took off on a moped, police said. No descriptions or images of any suspects have been released. The NYPD said it's offering a reward of up to $3,500 in the case.
Randall's Island is home to the city's largest shelter for asylum seekers. Previous issues at the complex led to the implementation of a nightly curfew from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. in March.
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