A man was fatally shot inside a 7-Eleven convenience store near Times Square on Thursday morning, the police said, sending commuters, workers and tourists running for cover in a busy part of New York City.
The victim, whose identity is still unknown, was shot in the neck around 10:30 a.m. at the store on Eighth Avenue near West 39th Street in Manhattan following an argument between him and the suspect, according to police officials and an internal police report.
The suspect, who fled south on Eighth Avenue, was last seen wearing a mask, a green jacket, dark pants and a black backpack, the report said. He had not been identified as of Thursday afternoon.
It is rare to see shootings in the area around the 7-Eleven, which is steps from the bustling Port Authority Bus Terminal and a few blocks south of the crowded theater district. There were no reported shootings in the Midtown South Police Precinct, where the store is, between Jan. 1 through Feb. 8, according to the most recently available police data.
But the gunfire on Thursday morning sent people darting in all directions.
Veronica Juarez, who works at a nearby coffee cart, said she heard one person yell, “Did you hear that?”
Cindy Moleña, 29, a sales coordinator who works 15 floors above the convenience store, said she heard could hear “frightening screams” from the street below. Ms. Moleña said the building was locked down for several hours.
On Thursday afternoon, investigators and officials from the city’s medical examiner office continued to collect evidence from the store as officers outside stepped over melting mounds of snow to keep pedestrians away from the crime scene.
Nearby, Lenny Simmons, who works at a Pret A Manger cafe on Eighth Avenue, said she had seen the victim before and that he had appeared to be homeless.
“He was always outside that store holding the door open,” she said.
Chelsia Rose Marcius is a criminal justice reporter for The Times, covering the New York Police Department.
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