Police are investigating after a smoke shop employee was shot in Hell’s Kitchen late Tuesday night during a dispute.
According to police sources, a group of young adults entered Smoke City on 710 9th Avenue just before midnight on Jan. 17 within the confines of the 18th Precinct. Sources familiar with the investigation, report that the five men in their early 20s began acting disorderly and creating a disturbance.
Becoming irritated, a 32-year-old employee asked the group to leave the premises when one of the men brandished a handgun and shot the worker in the leg. The group reportedly fled southbound on 9th Avenue riding scooters while the victim was rushed by EMS to Bellevue Hospital where he is expected to survive.
This incident comes as public debate rages on over unlicensed cannabis storefront to continue to sell marijuana without proper oversight throughout the five boroughs and the first licensed dispensaries begin cropping up.
No arrests have been made; detectives are still surveillance footage from the store.
