shooting

Man Shot Near Barclays Center, One Suspect on the Run: Police

What to Know

  • A 50-year-old man was shot and injured near the Barclays Center on Wednesday afternoon
  • The gunshots sent people running in the busy area near downtown Brooklyn
  • The suspect got away, but left behind a hat and glasses that police said will be analyzed for fingerprints

A gunman shot a man in the ankle near the Barclays Center on Wednesday afternoon, sending bystanders running and sparking a search for the suspect, police said. 

Gunfire rang out shortly after 2:15 p.m. Wednesday outside a shopping center across the street from the Brooklyn arena, police said.

A witness who was at a nearby Starbucks saw people running, then joined them.

"I thought they were firecrackers, I didn't think of it," said Marc Klein. "Then I saw people running, I finally figured it was gunshots."

A maze of blue police tape wrapped the sidewalk outside Barclays Wednesday evening as detectives pieced together what led up to the shooting. At first, investigators said they were looking for two people, but they now believe it's only one.

Authorities say the shooting may have started with some sort of argument inside the subway station that overflowed onto the busy sidewalk. 

Hours later, police were still searching for the gunman who fled, and the NYPD says multiple shots were fired by the suspect, who left behind a baseball hat and a pair of glasses. The objects will be analyzed for DNA, police said. 

Bystanders were still rattled hours after the shooting.

"My hands were like shaking, like trauma," witness Marc Klein said, adding that he took off running when he heard the pop-pop of the gun. 

The 50-year-old victim was taken to Methodist Hospital with a gunshot wound to his leg and was in stable condition, police said.

It's unclear if he was the intended target; he had yet to be interviewed by police Wednesday evening. 

No one else was injured in the shooting. 

"I'm gonna say thank God," NYPD Deputy Chief Vincent DiDonato said. "Thank God that we only had one individual in light of what's happened today in our country. Thank God we only have one individual hit." 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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