‘Woman and her three-year-old’ are shot in Times Square in broad daylight amid NYC’s 77% rise in gun violence
- A woman and her child were shot shortly before 5pm Saturday in Times Square
- Adult was struck in the thigh, and both victims are expected to survive
- Police are searching for the suspected shooter, who fled the scene on foot
A woman and her young child have been struck by gunfire in Times Square in broad daylight.
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 victims were an adult female and her three-year-old young girl, NYPD sources told the NY Post.
The adult victim was struck in the upper thigh, and both victims are expected to survive, cops said.
Police respond to the scene after a woman and girl were struck by gunfire in Times Square in broad daylight on Saturday
Police lock down the scene following a shooting on Saturday in Times Square
The adult victim was struck in the upper thigh, and both victims are expected to survive
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 have called for additional Emergency Services Units to respond to the scene.
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 red 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.
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 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 a woman 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
Last month, a tourist from Kansas City was shot in the shoulder by a stray bullet near Times Square.
Chris Ruby, 44, was struck as he walked down West 38th Street in Manhattan in the early hours of Wednesday morning, 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 on Wednesday evening.
‘I [then] took off my jacket, and there was blood everywhere. It was really bad.’
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 late Wednesday 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.