According to police, two women and one child were shot in Times Square after a separate group of men got into an argument that resulted in one of them pulling a gun.
None of the victims sustained life-threatening injuries, and police are continuing to update the public on the suspect’s status.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement posted on Twitter that “the flood of illegal guns into our city must stop” and the victims were bystanders.
According to The Wall Street Journal, there has been a spike in gun related violence in New York City intensified during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) said it recorded 416 shootings from Jan. 1 through May 2, up from 227 shootings in the same period last year.
There were 44 homicides in the city in April, up from 38 homicides in April 2020, according to the NYPD.
