One dead, two wounded in Midtown NYC shooting
A manhunt was underway Monday across New York City for a gunman who killed one man and wounded two others outside a Midtown subway station during morning rush.
The victims, all in their 40s, had been drinking coffee in a McDonald's when the heavy-set gunman in a black-hooded sweatshirt became involved in an argument with them, said Robert Boyce, city chief of detectives.
"Those individuals then walked out of the McDonald's and into the subway station," Boyce said. "They were followed by the same individual."
Moments later, four gunshots rang out just two blocks from the crowds at Penn Station, Boyce said.
Boyce said one of the wounded men was shot twice in the torso. The other wounded man, shot in the leg, "is giving us a narrative of events as we go forward" with the investigation, Boyce said.
Witness Joe Sarcone, 36, of Manhattan, told The Wall Street Journal that he saw "about six guys arguing. Then I saw one guy take out a pistol. I said, ‘Oh my God.’”
Sarcone said he and his wife ran off once he saw the gun. The gunman is believed to have fired four 9mm rounds, Boyce said.
“I heard a pow-pow-pow,” he said. “I heard the shots and hoped no one got hurt but that wasn’t the case, obviously.”
Rush-hour traffic in the area was snarled, and bus lines were rerouted while police investigated.
The shooting took place at about 6:14 a.m., a block from where three subway lines meet. Local media identified the fatality as 43-year-old Angel Quinones.
Three men were seen fleeing the scene, possibly in a silver vehicle, the newspaper's website reported. William Lamboy, 45 was critically injured and Eddy Torres, 48, suffered a leg wound, the newspaper's website and other local media reported.
Boyce declined to discuss any connection to a methadone program run out of the nearby West Midtown Medical Group. Two of the victims attend the program, the Associated Press reported, citing friends of the victims.
“This kind of thing doesn’t happen over here,” Michael Gessow, 39, of the Bronx, told AP. He said he has been coming to the clinic for 10 years. “They were real nice guys, straight guys. I can’t believe it.”
Tony Ramos told WCBS-TV he was a friend of the victim who died.
“He didn’t have a chance to go anywhere,” Ramos said. “The guy just shot him." He added: “He was nice, he was a good friend, a good guy."