A 4-year-old girl and two adults were shot during a violent incident in New York Times Square on Saturday. The shooting occurred around 5pm at 44th Street and Seventh Avenue when four men got into a heated dispute and fired shots.
According to NBC New York, uniformed police officers were just a block away from the scene of the shooting when shots rang out. Witnesses told police the men were arguing when one pulled out a gun and started firing shots that hit bystanders.
The suspects fled the scene leaving behind three injured victims who were taken by ambulance to Bellevue Hospital for treatment. They suffered non-life threatening injuries and are expected to survive.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said the victims were unintended targets and are not related to the gunmen. "The first person shot is a 4-year-old female from Brooklyn. She was shot in the leg and it is believed she is undergoing surgery," Shea said.
The young girl was in a stroller and was shopping for toys with her family when the shooting occured. She was struck in the leg.
Meanwhile, 23-year-old Rhode Island resident Wendy Magrinat was merely visiting with relatives at Times Square when she was hit in the leg by the spray of bullets. Marela Aldana,43, who is from New Jersey suffered a gunshot wound in the foot.
Police recovered three .25-caliber shell casings at the scene. While investigations are underway, the search continues for the gunmen. One person of interest has been sought out by authorities after he was identified in a surveillance footage.
WANTED in connection to shooting three people near West 44th Street and 7th Avenue in Manhattan on May 8, 2021. @NYPDDetectives need anyone with information about the identity or whereabouts of this individual to contact @NYPDTips at #800577TIPS. All calls are anonymous. pic.twitter.com/qciBGCR6AK
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) May 9, 2021
Farrakhan Muhammad was identified by two senior NYPD officials as one of the men involved in the shooting. They say he attempted to shoot his brother after an argument when he struck the three bystanders.
Shea expressed alarm at the increased number of children falling victims to shootouts. “How many kids have to be shot before we take this seriously? We just had a 1-year-old homicide cleared this week," he said. His referencing comes from the arrest of two Brooklyn gang members in the summer of 2020 during a shooting that killed the one-year-old boy who was sitting in his stroller during a family cookout.
