Blind panic in Times Square as hundreds of nervous New Yorkers run for their lives when sound of motorcycle backfiring is confused with gunfire after weekend of back-to-back mass shootings
- A backfiring motorcycle caused pandemonium on Times Square in New York as visitors ran for their lives thinking that the sound was multiple gunshots
- The sounds could be heard at the Crossroads of the World at around 9.30 pm
- Footage showed crowds of people running south down Broadway in a panic
- The NYPD later confirmed that the noise was motorcycle backfire and not an active shooter in the tourist hot spot
A backfiring motorcycle caused pandemonium on Times Square in New York as visitors ran for their lives thinking that the sound was multiple gunshots.
The sounds could be heard at the Crossroads of the World at around 9.30 pm on Tuesday, with multiple backfires on the street near Eighth Avenue and West 42nd Street, according to the NYPD.
Footage showed crowds of people running in a panic, with some people flocking towards West 47th Street and Seventh Avenue, police told WNBC.
A backfiring motorcycle caused pandemonium on Times Square in New York as visitors ran for their lives thinking that the sound was multiple gunshots
One pedestrian was injured from a fall sustained while running during the frenzy, police told the outlet, while parents were also separated from their parents.
Witnesses claimed that they watched people screaming and falling over one another as they ran southwards on Broadway.
The NYPD’s Midtown North Precinct tweeted at 10.09 pm: ‘There is no#ActiveShooter in #TimesSquare. Motorcycles backfiring while passing through sounded like gun shots.
‘We are receiving multiple 911 calls. Please don’t panic. The Times Square area is very safe! @NYPDnews @NYPDTimesSquare.’
A construction management company called @TheDanielsGroup tweeted: ‘People fleeing and hiding from #timessquare after suspected live shooter #NewYork we caught this from our hotel bar 10th floor #police confirmed this was not a live shooter #timessquare #NYC.’
Some social media users reported hearing someone scream ‘shooter’ after hearing the backfiring motorcycle, according to CBS.
One Twitter user claimed: ‘So we’re in Times Square and everyone starts running and screaming “SHOOTER.”
Witnesses claimed that they watched people screaming and falling over one another as they ran southwards on Broadway. One person can be seeing lying on the ground and it is unclear if he was injured
Authorities have been on high alert following two mass shooting incidents in Ohio and Texas over the weekend
A company called The Daniels Group had posted video footage of people running from a hotel on Tuesday night. But they later reiterated the NYPD’s message that there was no live shooter involved
‘So we start running and bust into Richard Rodgers Theatre: The Home of Hamilton. Everyone is frantic and crying and Beth and I are SHAKING bc we’re on the stage where @Lin_Manuel preformed.’
Authorities have been on high alert following two mass shooting incidents in Ohio and Texas over the weekend.
A gunman who killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio, had expressed a desire to commit a mass shooting and showed an interest in violent ideology, investigators said Tuesday as the FBI announced it is opening an investigation.
Federal investigators are working to determine what ideologies influenced 24-year-old Connor Betts and why he chose the specific target of Dayton’s Oregon entertainment district for the shooting early Sunday.
On Saturday 22 people were killed and scores more were injured when a gunman opened fire at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas.
El Paso’s police chief, Greg Allen, said investigators believe the suspected gunman, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius, posted an anti-immigrant screed that appeared online shortly before the attack.
Crusius is being held on capital murder charges, though federal prosecutors are also considering charging Crusius with hate crimes.