Times Square shooting: Woman and toddler shot in NYC, police say

Two people, a woman and a three-year-old child, were shot in New York City’s Times Square on Saturday evening, according to police.

They are expected to survive, and are being treated for injuries at Bellevue Hospital. The woman sustained a gunshot wound to her leg, according to authorities.

The shooting occurred around 5pm, three senior New York Police Department officials told NBC New York, near the corner of West 44th Street and 7th Avenue.

The woman was the child’s mother, according to the New York Post, citing police sources. Neither individual’s name has been released.

Police warned that they were cordoning off the scene of the incident for their investigation and could cause delays through the busy Manhattan crossroads.

“Expect traffic delays, road closures, and a heavy presence of emergency personnel in the area of West 44th Street and 7th Avenue in Manhattan,” read a tweet on Saturday from New York City Emergency Management. “Avoid the area.”

Details about any potential suspect have not been released. The individual reportedly fled the scene of the shooting, according to Fox 5 New York. A police investigation into who shot the pair is ongoing and no arrests have been made yet.

Video of the scene of the shooting from CBS New York shows at least five officers, as well as numerous police cruisers, sectioning off the center of Time Square, as throngs of masked tourists walk by.

While many expected gun violence to decrease during the pandemic, when crowded meeting places were closed and people sent to stay at home, it has surged during the coronavirus.

In 2020, nearly 20,000 Americans died from gun violence, the highest rate of any year in the last two decades. Last year, another 24,000 died by suicide using a firearm.

What’s more, these deaths were disproportionately concentrated in communities of colour.