Three people have been shot by a gunman who opened fire in New York's Times Square early Saturday morning.
The shooting erupted at around 1:20AM near the intersection of West 44th Street and 7th Avenue, right outside the Hard Rock Cafe, according to the NYPD, via the Guardian.
Police say the gunfire broke out after a “verbal dispute between two people escalated,” with the teenage suspect allegedly pulling the trigger.
Three people were hurt in the incident — an 18-year-old woman grazed in the neck, a 19-year-old man shot in the right foot, and a 65-year-old man shot in the left leg, as reported by the New York Post.
All were rushed to Bellevue Hospital and are in stable condition.
“The perpetrator was engaged in a verbal dispute prior to the shooting with one of the victims,” an NYPD spokesperson told The Independent.
“He has been taken into custody and a firearm was also recovered. He has not been charged yet.” The teen’s identity has not been released due to his age.
Footage from the scene posted to social media shows crowds scattering in panic as police swarmed the area, surrounding a vehicle and directing bystanders away. One victim was filmed being wheeled into an ambulance on a stretcher.
The shooting comes during what NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch recently called the city’s lowest period of gun violence since records began.
Between January and July 2025, New York City recorded 412 shooting incidents — marking the tenth straight month of major crime decline.
Still, this latest outburst of violence is a stark reminder that the city is not immune to sudden, dangerous flare-ups.
Just last month, four people were killed in a mass shooting at an office building, including NYPD officer Didarul Islam, when a gunman targeted the NFL headquarters before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.