Police are seeking this man wearing a No. 9 sports jersey in the shooting
Three innocent bystanders, including a mother and her four-year-old girl, have been struck by stray bullets in Times Square in broad daylight, sending tourists stampeding in panic.
NYPD officers responded to the shooting at 4.55pm on Saturday near the intersection of West 44th Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan, in the heart of Times Square.
The young girl was struck in the leg, a 24-year-old woman was hit in her thigh and a 44-year-old woman was shot in the foot, police said. All are expected to survive.
The three victims were not the intended targets, and the shooting unfolded after four men were arguing in the street and one pulled a gun and began firing wildly, an NYPD source told WNBC-TV.
A traffic camera on the scene caught the moment that the crowd of tourists fled in terror as the shots rang out.
Three innocent bystanders, including a mother and her four-year-old girl, have been struck by stray bullets in Times Square in broad daylight
Police lock down the scene following a shooting on Saturday in Times Square
NYPD officers responded to the shooting at 4.55pm on Saturday near the intersection of West 44th Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan
The shooting occurred in front of the theater that hosts the hit musical Lion King (seen in the background above as police lock down the scene
Dispatchers called for additional Emergency Services Units to respond to the scene, and the area was shut down to vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
Police dispatchers said the suspected shooter fled westbound on 44th Street on foot.
The suspect is described as a black male with short dreadlocks, wearing a zip-up hoodie and a white soccer jersey bearing the number nine.
Witnesses said that the shooting took place near the Minskoff Theater, the home of the long-running hit musical The Lion King.
The musical is not currently playing on Broadway due to pandemic restrictions, but in recent months tourists have begun returning to Times Square.
Police officers are seen in Times Square after three people, including a toddler, were injured in a shooting near West 44th St. and 7th Ave
It comes as gun violence soars in New York City, and marks the second time in a month that bullets have flown in Times Square, the crowded tourist hotspot
So far this year, shooting incidents in New York City are up 83 percent from last year, and 94 percent from 2019, according to NYPD data
It comes as gun violence soars in New York City, and marks the second time in a month that bullets have flown in Times Square, the crowded tourist hotspot.
Last month, a tourist from Kansas City was shot in the shoulder by a stray bullet near Times Square.
So far this year, shooting incidents in New York City are up 83 percent from last year, and 94 percent from 2019, according to NYPD data.
Murders are up 16 percent on the year and 32 percent from 2019.
Mayor Bill de Blasio reacted to the shooting on Twitter, saying he was glad the victims were in stable condition.
‘The perpetrators of this senseless violence are being tracked down and the NYPD will bring them to justice,’ he tweeted. ‘The flood of illegal guns into our city must stop.’
Police dispatchers said the suspected shooter fled westbound on 44th Street on foot
The area was shut down to pedestrians and vehicles as police searched for the shooter
NYPD and medics respond to the scene after two women and girl were shot in Times Square
NYPD officers canvas the scene for evidence after the shooting on Saturday in Times Square
It is the latest shooting to rock the tourist hotspot at gun violence soars in New York City
Tourist Chris Ruby, 44, was struck as he walked down West 38th Street in Manhattan in the early hours on April 7, returning to his hotel after watching a baseball game.
The Missouri native was rushed to nearby Bellevue Hospital where he was treated for the gunshot wound, which fractured both his collarbone and his shoulder blade.
‘I felt this huge pain in my shoulder,’ Ruby told ABC 7 after he was discharged from the hospital later that day.
‘I [then] took off my jacket, and there was blood everywhere. It was really bad.’
The public is asked to avoid the area at this time and expect traffic delays and road closures
It comes as gun violence soars in New York City, and marks the second time in a month that bullets have flown in Times Square, the crowded tourist hotspot
Police say they believe Ruby was not the intended target of the shooting, and that he was simply caught in the crossfire.
Purported gang member Brannovan Martinez, 21, was arrested over the incident on the day of the shooting and has been charged with assault, criminal use of a firearm and reckless endangerment. He has multiple prior arrests for drugs and assaults.
Ruby says he saw the suspect appear to aim his gun toward someone else before he was accidentally struck.
Developing story, more to follow.