Shooting at NYC Times Square after ‘verbal dispute’ leaves 3 injured; suspect in custody

A shooting incident at the crowded Times Square in New York City early on Saturday left three people injured and triggered panic as people started running to safety while police cordoned off the area. As per the New York Police Department, the shooting happened around 1.20 am at the intersection of West 44th Street and 7th Avenue, following a dispute between two people. A 17-year-old male suspect was taken into custody at the scene, and a firearm was recovered. The teen was not identified because of his age, and charges had not been filed, said police officers.

According to police, a 65-year-old man was shot in the left leg and a 19-year-old man in the right foot, while an 18-year-old woman suffered a graze wound to the neck.

“All were taken to Bellevue Hospital and are in stable condition. The perpetrator was engaged in a verbal dispute prior to the shooting with one of the victims. He has been taken into custody, and a firearm was also recovered. He has not been charged yet,” a police spokesperson told media.

Videos posted on social media showed people running away from the scene in panic, while police officers surrounded a vehicle outside the Hard Rock Cafe. Besides, police officers were seen wheeling one shooting victim on a stretcher into an ambulance.

Other footage showed officers pushing crowds back as they secured the area.

Police said gunfire erupted after a “verbal dispute between two people escalated”. The suspect was apprehended shortly after.

The shooting comes just days after New York’s police commissioner claimed that the city had recorded the fewest shooting incidents and victims this year since records began. Over the first seven months of 2025, there were 412 shooting incidents and 489 victims, marking the tenth straight month of decline in major crime.