On Friday night, there was violence in Times Square, a popular tourist spot in New York City. Three people were hurt in a shooting. Reports said that a 65-year-old male and a 19-year-old guy were shot, while an 18-year-old lady had a graze wound on her neck. The NYPD called the event a “escalation” of a verbal fight between two people that happened at 1:20 am. A minor suspect has been arrested.
Social media postings and a video from a crime reporter gave quick looks at what happened following the crime, showing police cars at the scene and cops helping victims. The video also showed bullet holes in a car window, and the individual filming said they were only two cars away from the car that was shot.
This is the most recent shooting to rock New York City. It comes just weeks after a horrific shooting in Manhattan in July, when Shane Tamura, a native of Las Vegas, opened fire in a building in Midtown, killing four people, including an off-duty NYPD officer, before dying himself.
The incident in Times Square also makes some wonder how well New York’s “gun-free zones” work. These zones were set up in 2022 after a Supreme Court decision that gave people more rights to own guns. A state legislation that aims to keep guns out of sensitive areas makes Times Square a gun-free zone. Even with these steps, gun violence has not totally stopped in the neighborhood. In 2024, a tourist and a police officer were shot in Times Square when a heist went wrong.