A street vendor is recovering from a gunshot wound after a man shot him in the back in Manhattan on Friday, cops said.
Police responding to a 911 call for an assault found the 21-year-old victim suffering from a gunshot wound to the back on Canal St. near Greene St. in SoHo around 1 p.m., police said.
Medics rushed the victim to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition, cops said.
The victim, who works as a street vendor, was selling knockoff designer handbags when the shooter, who was heard raving about being followed, opened fire, another vendor who witnessed the shooting told the Daily News.
“He’s paranoid. He thinks people are following him,” said the vendor, who gave his name as Mohammed. “So he shot him in the back.”
Danny O’Boyle, 27, was inside his apartment overlooking Canal St. when he heard the shots and looked out his window to see the victim wounded on the street below.
“I heard a couple shots,” O’Boyle said. “He was on the ground, face-up, screaming. It’s kind of crazy around here. There’s always a lot of fights. I’m not surprised.”
About two dozen street vendors who were forced to pack up their wares as detectives investigated the shooting were spotted waiting outside the police cordon following the incident.
No arrests have been made.