A 19-year-old man was recovering in the hospital Tuesday after he was shot at an Upper West Side basketball tournament where young children and their families were in attendance.
The young victim told police he was playing basketball at the Amsterdam Houses around 9 p.m. when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his left arm. It's unclear where the bullet came from but the teen is expected to recover.
Investigators are now trying to determine what led someone to open fire in the middle of a community event that takes place every year. Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer said the basketball coach was upset by the shooting because "he has never had this problem."
Since the spring of 2020, the number of shootings has soared in the city. At least 687 people were wounded or killed by gunfire through June 6. That's not historically bad. More than 2,400 people were shot during the same period in 1993. But it is the highest number for a winter and early spring since 2000.
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"I've been coming here for 20 years. He wants to keep young people occupied. Amazingly, he has a full time job and he does this on a volunteer basis," Brewer said.
Monday's shooting comes just a day after a tourist in Times Square became the latest victim of gun violence across the five boroughs.
