A food vendor is recovering Wednesday after being shot in the arm in the heart of Times Square while trying to help another worker who was being harassed by a group of people, police said.
The shooting happened around 4:50 a.m. at West 47th Street and 7th Avenue, according to police. Police said the 29-year-old victim was taken to Bellevue hospital in stable condition with a gunshot wound to his right arm. His injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
This all started when a group of young people began harassing a food cart vendor trying to set up for the day near the TKTS booth, police said.
“They were trying to steal the money, they were trying to grab money from the guys. And this is a bad thing,” said Wagih Nasr of Times Square.
The vendor called another vendor who rushed off to help keep the peace but when the group was leaving the area, one of them fired and hit the man trying to help in the arm, according to police.
“The guy shot like 6 bullets at the guy. He shot in his arm. That’s what happened,” said Ismail Abdlghefr who was in the area.
Nasr knows the victim and said he was simply trying to help a fellow food cart vendor from being attacked and robbed.
“He’s a nice guy. He’s here to make his living. He’s not here to make no problem with nobody,” Nasr said. “He respects the law. He respects everybody. He didn’t do anything wrong.” Nasr said the victim is a father who came to this country from Egypt in search of a better life.
Police flooded the area and a short time later found four people of interest in the subway system, including the possible gunman.
Part of the area was closed off to traffic earlier and cars were being diverted off 7th Avenue. Subway service was not affect.
