NEW YORK – A man was shot outside Penn Station NY Monday night, police said. This after an alleged dispute within the extensive transit center.
Authorities noted that there were reports of a single shot occurring during rush hour around 5:45 p.m. near West 31st Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan, right near the entrance to the station and Madison Square Garden. At the busy street corner, a 58-year-old man was walking in front of the NJ Transit entrance when he was hit by a bullet that was aimed at another person, according to police.
The incident stemmed from an altercation inside Penn Station shortly before, police said, when someone refused to give the suspected gunman any food. The injured victim, who had been working in the city for three months, was not the target of the attack.
“The shooter walks up to the man who is eating food downstairs, possibly asking for some food. He’s a bit turned away, and that ended up on the street,” New York City Police Commissioner Dermot said. Shea. It added that the alleged gunman and the victim, neither of whom has been identified, previously knew each other.
A taxi operator said the victim had no idea that he had been shot when he called a police officer for help.
“The cop ripped off his shorts and said they shot him. I said, ‘Was that a gunshot?'” Dispatcher George Harris said.
The suspect fled down Seventh Avenue. No arrests have been made yet, but surveillance cameras likely captured him fleeing the scene.
Shea said he is confident the suspect will be found, and when that happens, the commissioner wants him to face the consequences, a continued push from the city’s chief police officer for tougher penalties to help curb gun violence.
“We need people to be held accountable when they carry guns, we need when they get caught carrying guns to go to jail and feel that,” Shea said.