Two teens wounded as gunfire erupts on the Upper West Side
Oct 31, 2024
Two teens were wounded after a gunman opened fire on a crowded Manhattan street filled with trick-or-treaters on Halloween night, cops said.
The victims, a 17-year-old boy and 19-year-old man, were with a group of other teens shooting craps against the wall of a McDonalds on W. 71st St. near Amsterdam Ave. on the Upper West Side when the shooter fired three shots around 6:32 p.m., a law enforcement source told the Daily News.
The younger teen was spotted limping into a nearby McDonald’s where his friends bandaged a wound to his right leg, one witness told the Daily News.
“He ran into the McDonald’s and sat down,” said the witness, a street vendor who declined to share his name. “He was shot in the right leg. His friends were surrounding him and helping him.”
Police investigate a shooting outside a McDonald’s on West 71st Street and Broadway on the Upper West Side, Manhattan, New York City on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (Gardiner Anderson for New York Daily News)
Medics rushed the teen to NY Presbyterian – Weill Cornell Hospital in stable condition, cops said.
The older victim with gunshot wounds to the arm and shoulder — who arrived at Mt. Sinai Hospital by private means — was later connected to the shooting, police said.
The gunfire sent costumed kids and their parents running in terror, the vendor said.
“There were lots of kids out here trick-or-treating with their moms. They all ran screaming,” the vendor said. “You can’t even go trick-or-treating out here anymore.”
One dad out trick-or-treating with his 5-year-old daughter when the gunfire erupted complained that a group of youngsters hang out smoking weed, playing dice and fight at the intersection.
“These kids are always under my scaffolding smoking marijuana and shooting craps on the sidewalk,” 51-year-old Eric Papa told The News. Papa was dressed as King Triton, while his daughter dressed up as the Little Mermaid.
“There are always fist fights. I told them to leave I don’t know how many times. It’s madness. None of them live around here. Where are the police?”
Police were searching for two suspects last seen fleeing south on Amsterdam Ave. on a bicycle. No arrests have been made.