Man shot in the buttocks and hand as fights break out in Washington Square Park after Pride celebrations
The fight was one of multiple that broke out near Washington Square Park on Sunday, where thousands of people had gathered for New York City’s Pride celebrations
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A man was shot in the buttocks and the hand in Manhattan in the early hours of Monday morning in a fight that broke out following Pride celebrations in New York City.
The 20-year-old was rushed to hospital after he was shot multiple times near Washington Square Park just after 2am, the NYPD told The Independent. His injuries are not thought to be fatal.
He is now recovering in hospital and is in a stable condition as police continue to search for the gunman.
Bullet markers could be seen on the ground following the shooting as investigators tried to piece together what happened.
Both 5th Avenue and East 8th Street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, were shut after the shooting.
The fight was one of multiple that broke out near Washington Square Park on Sunday, where thousands of people had gathered for New York City’s Pride celebrations.
“Many people went to Washington Square Park. We had a couple thousand there. When I looked at the drones that were showing the park, we had about 15,000 there. Officers responded, they had a light touch, it just goes to show the discipline of the police department. We put necessary barriers in place and we made sure that people were able to have the end of the festivities without any major disruption,” Mayor Eric Adams said.
Videos posted on social media showed dozens of New Yorkers throwing punches at each other and throwing each other to the ground during the brawls.
Another video showed hair-pulling, while one video showed a woman, who appeared to be bleeding from her face with dried blood on her white shirt, going head-to-head with a peer as the crowd loudly cheered.
As night fell, the NYPD played a loudspeaker recording announcing Washington Square Park’s closure and ordering people to leave – leading to arguments between cops and park-goers.
Police said it is not clear if Monday morning’s shooting was related to the fights, adding that no Pride event was happening when the fights occurred.
Altogether, 22 people were arrested during Pride, with six still in custody.
Before the rowdy conduct, New York City celebrated its 54th Pride Parade as thousands of revelers took part in the celebration of LGBTQ rights in Greenwich Village.
During the festivities, anti-Israel protesters temporarily blocked the march before they were hauled off by cops near the historic Stonewall Inn, considered the birthplace of the gay rights movement.
“This is really crazy, Pride is not supposed to be like this,” one witness told WABC. “We’re supposed to come out and enjoy and you know just love one another and come together. And we hope moving forward there will be no more violence and craziness going on.