NEW YORK– Three innocent children, including a 5-year-old girl who was having ice cream, was shot in Times Square in New York City on Saturday evening when a gunman opened fire during a fight between a gang, Dermot Shea, the Police Commissioner said.
All the victims are expected to recover.
The firing occurred shortly after 5 p.m. near the intersection of Seventh Avenue and West 44th Street, police said.
Dermot said during a night news conference; police have one suspect they’re looking to question. The police officials posted a video of the man running away from the incident on its Twitter page.
“We have, from various witnesses, that a fight happened on the street involving at least four people,” Dermot said. “It is during this fight that at least one person pulls out a gun.”
Dermot said the 5-year-old girl from New York was expected to go through surgery for a gunshot injury to her leg. A 43-year-old lady from New Jersey was shot in the arm, and a 24-year-old woman from Rhode Island who was shopping was shot in the leg, he said. None of them is relatives.
Security camera videos posted on Twitter by the fire department show people running away from the incident after the sooting.
Dermot said a police officer heard five shots, and officers found three shells, appearing to be .25-caliber, at the incident.
Bill de Blasio, the Mayor, called the shooting “pointless violence” and pledged the suspects would be brought to justice.
“The surge of illegal guns into the New York city must stop,” he said in a Facebook post.
Dermot said local police officials have been seizing guns at an alarming rate over the last three years, and he said “bad administration” were to blame. He refused to elaborate.
