Two women and a child injured in a shooting at "Times Square"

Two women and a fourth-year-old girl were injured in a shooting in Times Square in New York, according to the US city police, in an incident that brings to the fore concerns about the level of crime in a city that is preparing to advance the tourism sector after a long hiatus.

A police spokesman told AFP that the shooting took place in broad daylight shortly before 17:00 (21:00 GMT) on Saturday at the crossroads between Seventh Avenue and 44th Street.

He added that the three injured were transferred to a hospital in Manhattan while their lives were not in danger.

The police said that they had not arrested any suspects so far, noting that "the investigation is still ongoing."

The police imposed a security cordon around the scene of the attack, which lasted for several hours.

During a press conference held at the site of the attack, New York Police Chief Dermot Shay announced that the three wounded were apparently accidentally injured during a quarrel that broke out between a group of men, and one of them fired, wounding the two women and the child.

Shay said that the 4-year-old girl was in a baby cart when she was hit by a bullet in the leg, indicating that the family went to the market to buy toys.

He added that the second wounded man is a 46-year-old woman who was shot in the foot, while the third wounded man is a 23-year-old tourist who came to New York from Rhode Island to visit the Statue of Liberty and when she found it closed, she headed to Times Square, where she was shot in the leg. .

And when Shai announced that the police had not arrested any suspects until now, he confirmed that surveillance cameras had taken pictures of the incident while they were listening to eyewitness statements to arrest the wanted men.

The police chief denounced the lack of necessary legislation to combat the increase in illegal firearms in the major cities of the United States, and the arrest of those who repeat the same offense.

Shay asked reporters: “How many children must be injured before we realize that bad policies have serious consequences?” Recalling that the police had just arrested two people for their involvement in the shooting of a child in July 2020 in Brooklyn.

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