Juan Cruz-Corraliza

A Dunkirk man who injured two children in a drive-by shooting and was later illegally found with a gun has been sentenced.

Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt announced Tuesday that 43-year-old Juan Cruz-Corraliza was sentenced by Judge David Foley to 5 years in state prison after pleading guilty to first-degree attempted assault, a class C felony, for an incident that occurred in the City of Dunkirk in July 2022 and 2 1/2 years to 7 years after pleading guilty to third-degree criminal possession of a weapon a class D felony, for an incident that occurred in the village of Fredonia in October 2024.

These sentences will be served concurrently.

Cruz-Corraliza will be supervised by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision for 5 years following his release from prison.

The conviction of first-degree attempted assault arises from a shooting incident that occurred in the City of Dunkirk four years ago where two children were injured.

On July 17, 2022, it was reported that two youths, ages 8 and 12, were the victims of an apparent drive-by shooting on Route 60 around 8:30 p.m.

Witnesses had told police that a southbound vehicle on Route 60 was passed by another vehicle, at which point shots were fired. Afterward, occupants inside the vehicle struck by the gunfire sought safety and medical assistance at the Route 60 Red Apple Kwik Fill in Fredonia.

Both juveniles were transported to Brooks-TLC Hospital System in Dunkirk. At that time, it was reported that the 8-year-old female suffered life-threatening injuries.

Cruz-Corraliza was taken into custody by the US Marshals Office Fugitive from Justice Unit on Nov. 22, 2022.

Police said after being tracked to locations inside and outside of New York state, Cruz-Corraliza was finally found to be hiding in a trailer in the town of Hanover where he refused to come out. Cruz-Corraliza was taken into custody on the warrant by the US Marshals with assistance of their K-9 unit.

A jury trial was held in May 2024 resulting in a mistrial because a unanimous verdict could not be reached.

In an earlier interview, Schmidt said the challenge of the 2022 case was that there was only one witness who could identify Cruz-Corraliza. “The case hinged upon the jurors accepting her (witness’) identification. The shooting occurred just after 8 o’clock at night. It was getting dark out. The vehicles they were driving had tinted windows. … There’s no question that there was a shooting event that occurred and two children were shot. The issue was who was the shooter,” he said.

Cruz-Corraliza had been out on bail before the first trial took place. With the hung jury, he remained out on bail.

In October 2024, while out on bail, Cruz-Corraliza was arrested by the Fredonia Police Department on charges of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree menacing after he pointed a firearm at another person during an argument at Wal-Mart.

Cruz-Corraliza was indicted by a Chautauqua County Grand Jury on charges from this incident in July 2025.

On April 15, Cruz-Corraliza pleaded guilty at the last pre-trial conference before a jury trial was scheduled to begin on April 21.

The District Attorney would like to thank the Dunkirk Police Department and the Fredonia Police Department for their work on both cases and their assistance in the prosecution.