Two people were injured in a shooting at an ice skating rink in New York City’s Bryant Part Saturday night.
Authorities arrived on the scene after they received reports of a shooting at the Manhattan rink at about 11 p.m. local time on Saturday. Two men were injured in the attack when they were shot by the still unidentified gunman, who had been sitting just outside of the skating rink when he opened fire.
The rink is reportedly open until midnight on the weekend and free for public use. Around the rink is Bryant Park, which has a restaurant and grassy area for visitors to spend time in.
Spokesman for Bryant Park Corporation, Joe Carella, said in a statement that the park does not usually see any crime. Saturday’s shooting came as a shock to everyone in the park.
Witnesses at the scene say that they believe the gunman was targeting someone.
“He took out the gun and held it up and squinted like he was aiming,” one witness, 17-year-old Frances Vasques, told the New York Post. “He shot three times and ran.”
The first victim is 14-year-old Adonis Mera of Manhattan, reports the Post. Mera was shot in the back and his doctors reported Sunday that the teen does not have feeling in his legs from the waist down and he may never walk again.
Mera’s family does not believe that he was the gunman’s intended target.
The second victim is an unidentified Hispanic man in his 20s who was hit in the arm, according to the New York Daily News. His injury has been reported as non-life threatening and he is expected to make a full recovery.
Witnesses described the scene as one of complete “mayhem.” As the shots were fired, many dropped to the ice for cover before they fled over the railing of the rink, tossing their skates aside to run.
“People were yelling and there was a stampede,” 20-year-old witness Elizabeth Holmberg told the Daily News. Holmberg was skating when the shooting occurred.
The shooter fled after the shooting and is described as a man in his 20s with dreadlocks and a green and black North Face jacket.