New video shows the brutal attack a group of nearly two dozen people unleashed on a teenager visiting Times Square Thursday night, with the victim left stabbed and hospitalized.
The 17-year-old went to the tourist destination with friends around 5:30 p.m., when he said that a group of strangers harassed them — then turned violent. The video, obtained exclusively by NBC New York, shows the beatdown as the victim gets grabbed around the neck and thrown to the ground.
Several people swarmed around the teen, who was kicked in the head and fell back down to the street. A person in a yellow vest then hit the victim with an object, before hiding it — all as other people walked by.
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The teenager tried to protect his head but he was once again knocked down into the bus lane on West 42nd Street and surrounded by more than 20 attackers who kicked and punched him, then stabbed him in the back, according to police.
The teen, who lives in a migrant shelter in Queens, needed stitches to close the wound. He was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive.
Law enforcement sources said he has not had any issues and friends told News 4 the teenager is a good person who lives with his family and did not deserve what happened to him.
Police took seven people into custody in connection with the incident, six of whom were arrested and charged. Several of those facing charges are believed to live in migrant housing. Details on the charges weren't immediately clear Friday evening.
Police were still looking for 16 additional suspects.
"Times Square is vital to the health of New York City, to the economy of New York City. We cannot allow any individual — migrant or not — to cause the sort of violence that we are seeing right now," said former NYPD Chief of Department Terry Monahan. "If you’re gonna cause violence in Times Square, you’re gonna go to jail and you’re not walking back out. That has to be the message loud and clear from all angles of law enforcement in the city.”
The attack marked the third violent incident involving migrants in Times Square this year. Earlier in February, a 15-year-old migrant was arrested for allegedly shooting a Brazilian tourist inside a clothing store, then firing at NYPD officers.
In response to the most recent incident, the Times Square Alliance said in part “it’s now time for the rest of our criminal justice system to do their job and hold those responsible accountable for their actions."
