Detectives are investigating the shooting of a man on the Lower East Side Tuesday afternoon.
The bullets rang out at about 1:35 p.m. on March 30 in front of storefronts and an apartment building at 178 Ludlow St.
Officers from the 7th Precinct, in responding to a 911 call about the incident, found the 23-year-old man still at the scene with a gunshot wound to his right thigh. EMS rushed him to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.
According to law enforcement sources, the victim had been sitting inside a vehicle when the unidentified shooter, while behind the wheel of a black SUV, rolled up alongside, pulled out a gun and opened fire.
Police sources say they have helicopters scanning the area and are actively searching for a suspect, who was said to be driving a black Lincoln Navigator with New Jersey license plates.
Kelsey Isenberg, a witness, told amNewYork Metro that she was exiting a garage when a black Lincoln pulled up in front of her car.
“I saw a guy in a blue shirt get out and I was confused because I was trying to pull out and I heard a shot or I heard something bang, I heard someone say ‘that sounded like a gun’ or ‘that’s a gun.’ I rolled up my window, and backed up and I saw another person get into the car and I drove off,” Isenberg said, describing the shots to sound akin to firecrackers.
Isenberg said she heard two to three shots, but the incident happened so quickly she couldn’t get a good look at the alleged assailant. She described the moment as terrifying, an experience she has never had before and hopes to never have again.
“I saw the guy was running and [he] had something in his hand, but I don’t know what it was. I’m not familiar with guns,” Isenberg said, also stating that she didn’t even know that someone was shot since she didn’t see the victim.
The investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit tips online at nypdcrimestoppers.com, or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
