New York. Three injured including a child in a shooting in Times Square

Two women and a child were injured on Saturday afternoon in Times Square, New York, during a shooting, just before 5:00 p.m. local time (21:00 GMT), at the intersection of 7th Avenue and 44th Street. Police cordoned off the area for several hours.

The three victims – a four-year-old child in her stroller who was shot in the leg while her family was shopping for toys, a 46-year-old woman who was shot in the foot, and a 23-year-old tourist from Rhode Island who was shot in the leg – were hospitalized in a Manhattan hospital, and their life was not in danger, said the boss of the new york police, Dermot Shea.

The three victims – who apparently did not know each other – found themselves by chance in the middle of an argument that arose between “two to four men”. At least one of them pulled out a gun and fired.

No arrests had been made by early evening. Police have appealed for witnesses and released CCTV footage of a wanted man.

More and more shootings

Dermot Shea denounced insufficient laws to fight against the growing number of firearms circulating illegally in the first American metropolis, and to stop repeat offenders.

“How many children must be affected before we realize that bad policies have harmful consequences?” he launched, recalling that two suspected leaders of a shooting that killed a baby in July 2020 in Brooklyn had just been arrested.

“Fortunately, these innocent bystanders are in stable condition,” Mayor Bill de Blasio also tweeted. “The perpetrators of this violence are wanted and the police will bring them to justice. The flow of illegal weapons flowing into New York must stop,” he added.

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According to a recent report by the Times Square Alliance, an association of merchants in the neighborhood, the area – one of New York’s tourist hotspots – recorded 25 violent crimes in the first quarter of 2021, compared to 17 in the same period of 2020.

At the end of March, the video recording of an attack against a sexagenarian of Asian origin in the neighborhood had shocked. A man with a heavy criminal record, who resided in a hotel near Times Square that had become a reception center for the homeless, had been arrested and charged.

The violence comes as the city plans to lift most pandemic restrictions on May 19, and launch a campaign to revive tourism in June. The theaters which are the main attraction of the district must reopen from September 14.

Shootings have risen sharply in New York since the summer of 2020 and the movement against racial inequality. The reasons for this increase such as the police reforms to be initiated are controversial, six weeks before the primaries for the municipal election.

According to the latest official statistics, New York recorded 149 shootings in April, compared to 56 in April 2020 (+166%). Crime in general was up 30% over the same period.

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