Two teens were wounded after a gunman opened fire on a crowded Manhattan street filled with trick-or-treaters on Halloween night, cops said.
The victims, a 17-year-old boy and 19-year-old man, were with a group of other teens shooting craps against the wall of a McDonalds on W. 71st St. near Amsterdam Ave. on the Upper West Side when the shooter fired three shots around 6:32 p.m., a law enforcement source told the Daily News.
The younger teen was spotted limping into a nearby McDonald’s where his friends bandaged a wound to his right leg, one witness told the Daily News.
“He ran into the McDonald’s and sat down,” said the witness, a street vendor who declined to share his name. “He was shot in the right leg. His friends were surrounding him and helping him.”
Medics rushed the teen to NY Presbyterian – Weill Cornell Hospital in stable condition, cops said.
The older victim with gunshot wounds to the arm and shoulder — who arrived at Mt. Sinai Hospital by private means — was later connected to the shooting, police said.
The gunfire sent costumed kids and their parents running in terror, the vendor said.
“There were lots of kids out here trick-or-treating with their moms. They all ran screaming,” the vendor said. “You can’t even go trick-or-treating out here anymore.”
One dad out trick-or-treating with his 5-year-old daughter when the gunfire erupted complained that a group of youngsters hang out smoking weed, playing dice and fight at the intersection.
“These kids are always under my scaffolding smoking marijuana and shooting craps on the sidewalk,” 51-year-old Eric Papa told The News. Papa was dressed as King Triton, while his daughter dressed up as the Little Mermaid.
“There are always fist fights. I told them to leave I don’t know how many times. It’s madness. None of them live around here. Where are the police?”
Police were searching for two suspects last seen fleeing south on Amsterdam Ave. on a bicycle. No arrests have been made.