NYC Christmas Concert Shooter Was Immigrant Shielded from Deportation Despite Extensive Criminal Record

The shooter at a New York City, New York, Christmas concert was an immigrant to the United States from the Dominican Republic who avoided deportation despite an extensive criminal record, officials confirm.

Luis Manuel Vasquez-Gomez, a 52-year-old native of the Dominican Republic who lived in the Bronx, opened fire on December 13 at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine following an outdoor Christmas concert on the steps of the church.

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Vasquez-Gomez was wearing a Dominican Republic face mask and hat and, according to the New York Daily News, was carrying a manifesto where he justified the shooting “because of the way the United States treated the people of Latin America.”

{snip} In 1989, Vasquez-Gomez pleaded guilty after cutting the hand of a man but avoided prison.

A year later, Vasquez-Gomez pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a weapon and selling cocaine after being arrested for attempted murder. {snip}

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