NYPD: Gun Violence Again Erupts In Times Square; 21-Year-Old Innocent Bystander Struck In Back By Ricochet
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- There were frightening moments in Times Square on Sunday evening.
A 21-year-old man, who was visiting the city with his family, was shot in the back, CBS2's Kiran Dhillon reported.
There were large crowds of people nearby at the time and many had a front-row seat to the violence.
The victim is seen on video being treated by paramedics and taken away on a stretcher.
Police said the shooting happened after a group of six men got involved in a dispute near the Minskoff Theatre, which is home to "The Lion King," near the corner of 45th Street and Seventh Avenue at around 5:15 p.m.
That's when at least one of them, took out a gun and started firing, police said.
Sources told CBS2 a bullet ricocheted and hit the victim, identified as Samuel Poulin, a Marine from Northville, N.Y., who was visiting with his family and just walking by. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.
"He was standing up. He was talking and then they put him on the stretcher and took him," said witness Sydney Santana, who was visiting from New Orleans.
One person eating at Junior's Restaurant across the street described to Dhillon what happened.
"It was a loud pop. At first, we thought it was a firecracker. We weren't really sure what it was. But then when the detectives started coming and all these other people started coming, we kind of thought, OK, something else is going on," the witness said.
"People were running towards the street where it happened, but the police made them come back the other way and then we were trapped. We couldn't go anywhere. They told us we had to stay there, basically, until they figured out what was going on," Santana added.
The shooting took place just a block from where three innocent bystanders, including a 4-year-old and a tourist, were shot last month. Police said that shooting happened after a gunman got into a turf war argument with his brother about where they illegally sold goods.
Salma Elkordy runs a food cart next to where Sunday's gunfire erupted. She said watching the Times Square she loves being overtaken by crime is heartbreaking and scary.
"That's really, really awful. We love everyone that comes to Times Square. We welcome our tourists. We love them, and it's so unfortunate that something like that happened," Elkordy said.
The police were looking at surveillance video in an attempt to identify any of the suspects, Dhillon reported.
Anyone who knows anything about the incident is asked to call police.
CBS2's Kiran Dhillon contributed to this report.
