New York is on lockdown and cautioned to stay alert as a manhunt is underway for a gunman who shot and injured a tourist in Times Square.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 31: NYPD officers gather ahead of New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square on December 31, 2023 in New York City. Around 1 million people are estimated to fill Times Square, alongside a large police presence amid concerns about protests targeting the event.
ABC News reported three individuals entered JD Sports, a clothing and sneaker store, at about 7 p.m. Thursday and started stealing merchandise on the second floor, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said. Two of the three suspects went to the lobby, where a female security guard confronted them and took back the stolen property, Chell said.
The gunman fired toward the security guard but instead shot a 38-year-old woman visiting New York from Brazil. She is expected to recover.
How Did The Gunman Get Away?
The suspect then fled before firing two shots at a pursuing officer a few blocks away. The officer wasn't hit and didn't return fire because there were too many people nearby, police said.
The suspect then dumped his shoes and jacket and escaped to a subway station, where he ran onto the tracks, police said. He later ran out of the subway station and remains at large.
One of the suspected boys, 15, was interviewed by detectives and later released.
"An attack on a cop is an attack on all of us!" NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry tweeted. "This coward shot at a hard-working, innocent New Yorker and then opened fire on one of our officers. ... This individual continues to pose a danger and must be caught immediately."
According to The Associated Press, the police described the shooter as a male between 15 and 20 years old.
"We are looking for one male. He is the shooter," Chief of Patrol John Chell said at a news conference at the scene Thursday.
"He shot at our cops not once but twice, and also shot an innocent female one time in the leg."
A second person was taken into custody in relation to the shootings.
Crime rates in New York City have plummeted since a spike at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of people shot in the city dropped 39% between 2022 and 2023 and holds place into the new year.
A reward of as much as $10,000 was offered for information.
