A tourist was shot in the leg in Times Square when a robber opened fire on a security guard and fled while firing at police.
Security detained the shooter and two other teenagers as they left the JD Sports store at West 42nd Street and Broadway, New York, around 7:15 p.m. Thursday.
The guard asked for their receipts and one of the group left the store empty-handed, but the other two stayed.
He grabbed a shopping bag containing a coat they were allegedly trying to steal and approached the other teen.
Shoppers stand inside the JD Sports store in Times Square after robbers shot a Brazilian tourist inside the store.
Security officers stopped the shooter and two other teenagers as they left the store and took a shopping bag with a stolen coat; then one of them shot at her and hit a woman he bought inside her.
The officers were shot while pursuing them, but the shooter did not hit the officers and no other injuries were reported.
Suddenly, the young man whose coat he took took out a gun from his shoulder bag and shot him.
He missed and hit a 37-year-old Brazilian tourist in the leg, just above the knee, while she was shopping inside the store with a friend.
The tourist limped to a warehouse and barricaded herself inside while the security guard left the teenagers and ran to her aid.
One of the three robbers stayed behind while the other two, including the one who left the store before the shooting, fled.
The officers were shot while pursuing them, but the shooter did not hit the officers and no other injuries were reported.
NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said he escaped to the 49th Street subway station, and CCTV recorded him running on the tracks, then leaving the subway elsewhere.
“Our officer draws his gun but can’t shoot: there are too many people around, too many people ducking,” he said.
Shocked tourists and passers-by gather in Times Square, near the scene of the shooting.
Heavily armed police patrol Times Square with the shooter still at large.
Investigators mark a tool the teens are believed to have dropped while fleeing.
The pair left a trail of clothing from West 48th Street and Sixth Avenue to West 51st Street and Sixth Avenue as they fled.
Another teenager, a 15-year-old boy, was arrested and police said he told them he was staying at the nearby Stewart Hotel, which is used as a shelter for immigrants.
Witnesses tied the victim’s shirt around his leg as a makeshift tourniquet as staff and other shoppers crowded into the store’s back room.
The tourist was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition and a police officer who became breathless while chasing the suspects was taken to New York-Presbyterian.
Police said the alleged gunman was last seen wearing a white baseball cap, white coat and white pants.
“Right now, we have numerous resources scouring this area looking for that buck,” Chell said.
‘He shot our police officers not once but twice. He also shot an innocent woman once in the leg. That’s our situation right now.’
Police officers were attacked while attempting to disperse a disorderly group in front of 220 West 42 Street around 8:30 p.m. on January 27.
JHoan Boada is released from Manhattan Criminal Court after being indicted for allegedly beating two police officers in Times Square with a group of other people.
The New York City landmark was the scene of other unpleasant scenes in recent months.
Police officers were attacked while attempting to disperse a disorderly group in front of 220 West 42 Street around 8:30 p.m. on January 27.
According to the NYPD, the immigrants began attacking them, kicking them in the head and body, while the two officers tried to restrain one of the men, ripping off his sweatshirt.
The migrants then fled, leaving police officers on the ground as they fled east on 42nd Street toward Seventh Avenue.
Darwin Andrés Gómez Izquiel, 19, Kelvin Servita Arocha, 19, Wilson Juárez, 21, Yorman Reverón, 24, Jhoan Boada, 22, and Yohenry Brito, 24, were subsequently arrested.
They were charged with assault on a police officer, gang assault, obstruction of government administration and disorderly conduct, but were released without bail.
The moment a migrant on a moped dragged a woman down a New York City street to steal her phone was captured in horrifying images shared by police.
The same group has also been linked to an anti-immigrant crime spree that targeted more than 60 women and stole their phones. One of the robberies involved a woman being dragged by a moped while the suspects took her phone.
Seven immigrants were arrested by New York police after they allegedly embarked on a crime spree in which they stole wallets and phones from at least 62 women across the city’s five boroughs.
Police arrested at least seven immigrants, all from Venezuela, at a safe house in the Bronx after executing a search warrant.
Police believe the gang is led by Venezuelan ringleader Victor Parra, 30, who had a technician hack the phones, use the devices to make fraudulent purchases and empty the victims’ bank accounts before sending them to Colombia.