- Three teenagers were stopped by security as they left JD Sport Store
- Security guard took a bag with a coat they were stealing and one shot at her
- He missed and hit a Brazilian tourist, then fired at cops as he fled
The NYPD is hunting a gun-toting shoplifter who opened fire inside JD Sports in Times Square Thursday night, wounding a Brazilian tourist.
Security stopped the shooter, believed to be between 15 and 20, and two other teenagers as they left JD Sports Store on West 42nd Street and Broadway about 7.15pm on Thursday.
The guard asked for their receipts and one of the group walked out of the shop empty-handed, but the other two stayed.
The female guard grabbed a shopping bag that contained a coat they were allegedly trying to steal, and approached the other teenager.
The shooter missed and hit a 37-year-old Brazilian tourist in the leg, just above the knee, as she was shopping inside the store with a friend.
The NYPD is hunting a thief who opened fire inside JD Sports in Times Square night, injuring a tourist before fleeing
The guard asked for their receipts and one of the group walked out of the shop empty-handed, but the other two stayed
Police later released a photo of the suspect tin the shooting. Police said the alleged gunman was last seen wearing a white baseball hat, white coat and white pants
The tourist limped to a storage room and barricaded herself inside as the security guard left the teenagers and rushed to her aid.
She was seen being taken away by an ambulance in footage from the scene.
NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said the shooter escaped into the 49th Street subway station.
‘Our officer draws his weapon but he cannot fire — too many people around, too many people ducking,’ he said.
The pair left a trail of clothes at West 48th Street and Sixth Avenue.
Another teenager, a 15-year-old boy, was arrested. According to police, he said he was staying at the nearby Stewart Hotel, which is being used as a migrant shelter.
Police have also released the above image of the shooting suspect as they hunt for him
The Brazilian tourist was seen being taken away by an ambulance in footage from the scene
Shoppers stand inside JD Sports Store in Times Square in the aftermath of a Brazilian tourist being shot inside the store by shoplifters
Cops were shot at as they chased after them, but the shooter missed the cops and there were no other reported injuries
Shocked tourists and passersby stand in Times Square near the site of the shooting
Heavily armed police patrol Times Square with the shooter still at large
Witnesses tied the victim’s shirt around her leg as makeshift tourniquet as staff and other shoppers huddled in the store’s back room.
The tourist was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in a stable condition and a policeman who ran out of breath while chasing the suspects was taken to New York-Presbyterian.
Police said the alleged gunman was last seen wearing a white baseball hat, white coat and white pants.
‘At this point, we have numerous resources scouring this area looking for that male,’ Chell said.
‘He shot at our cops not once but twice. He also shot an innocent female one time in the leg. That’s where we stand right now.’
Investigators mark a tool believed to have been dropped by the teens as they fled
Police officers were attacked when they tried to disperse a disorderly group in front of 220 West 42 Street about 8.30pm on January 27
It is the latest incident of spiraling crime at the tourist hotspot.
A gang of seven migrants has been indicted for attacking NYPD officers in Times Square in a separate attack on January 27.
Most of them were released after their initial arrest and have not been located by cops since.
Only one remains in custody.