NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The NYPD on Monday released new images of a gunman who allegedly shot a 21-year-old bystander while he was aiming for someone else in Times Square over the weekend.
The 21-year-old man was near West 45th Street and 7th Avenue around 5:15 p.m. on Sunday when the suspect fired a shot that hit him in the back, police said.
The suspect police are searching for.NYPD
The 21-year-old was taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue in stable condition, the NYPD said.
The gunman, who fled east on West 45th Street after the shooting, had fired several shots during a "heated argument" with other people, NYPD Chief of Department Rodney Harrison said.
The suspect police are searching for.NYPD
The victim was hit by one of the bullets that ricocheted, Harrison said.
A family member plucked the bullet out of the victim's back and gave it to an officer, police said. No one else was hurt in the shooting.
The shooting took place near the site of a May 8 shooting that wounded two women and a 4-year-old girl. A man was later arrested in Florida following that shooting and charged with attempted murder.
Police said Sunday's shooting followed a dispute outside the Minskoff Theatre, where performances of "The Lion King" will start back in September after the coronavirus pandemic shut Broadway down. Published reports said the dispute may have involved street peddlers.
Hot dog vendor Salma Elkordy told the Daily News that bystanders bolted in terror after the shooting.
"I started to see people running. At first I didn't think anything of it," Elkordy said. "Shortly after, I saw the caution tape. They blocked off the area, and shortly after the ambulance responded. I saw a big crowd of people and I knew somebody got shot."
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio promised Monday to dramatically boost the number of police officers in Times Square.
"The bottom line is we are going to flood the zone in Times Square with additional officers to make sure this situation is resolved once and for all," the mayor said at a morning briefing. "We have more and more activity out there, more and more jobs coming back, more and more tourists coming back. They have to be safe and they have to feel safe."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
