Three people, including two innocent bystanders, were shot on a busy Brooklyn street corner Friday afternoon, police said.
Gunshots rang out at the corner of Gallatin Place and Fulton Street, near the Jay Street-MetroTech subway station, around 1:50 p.m., according to police and fire officials.
Investigators believe the gunman was among a group of at least five people — four men and a woman — who had gotten into a fight with a 28-year-old man before shots were fired. The 28-year-old man was shot in the hand, a 31-year-old man was struck in the thigh and a 26-year-old woman was hit in the hand, police said.
The 28-year-old man is believed to be an intended target of the shooting and is known to police, while the other two victims just happened to be nearby, according to NYPD Chief Michael Kemper.
During an afternoon news conference Friday, Kemper said it was still too soon to say whether the shooting was related to gang activity, but added that “it could be.”
The victims, who were not identified by police, were taken to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in stable condition and were expected to make full recoveries, according to police.
None of the injured are residents of the area, according to Kemper. While police are still trying to figure out why the 28-year-old man was in the neighborhood, Kemper said the woman had just left a job interview and the 31-year-old man was walking with a co-worker.
The shooting was “highly unusual” for the area, Kemper said, but investigators have many witnesses because the neighborhood is so busy during the day.
“We have thousands of people walking up and down the streets,” he added.
The gunman was described as a heavyset man wearing red shorts and a white shirt. He was last seen running south on Smith Street.
Police released surveillance footage from the scene on Sunday.
Anyone with information about this incident or the whereabouts of these individuals is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
