Harrowing moment eight-year-old girl is shot in the leg by stray bullet while trick-or-treating with her father and younger sister in Manhattan
Distressing video emerged showing an eight-year-old girl in a Halloween costume getting shot by a stray bullet while out trick-or-treating with her family in Manhattan on Saturday.
Gunfire rang out at 117th Street and Lenox Avenue in the Harlem neighborhood at 7pm on Saturday.
A father was walking with his two daughters, ages eight and six years old, who were dressed up as Elsa from the Disney film Frozen and an astronaut, when suddenly two men walking in front of them opened fire on one another.
This screenshot from surveillance video shows a father and his two daughters, ages eight and six, trick-or-treating along 117th Street in Harlem on Saturday evening
Two men walking ahead of the family pull out guns and open fire in the middle of the street
The eight-year-old girl collapsed to the ground suffering from a gunshot wound to the leg, while her father was shot in the right arm
'I see the guy step back, show his piece and in a split second, he started blasting,' the 39-year-old father, who asked to remain anonymous, told ABC 7 NY. 'It was rapid bing, bing, bing.
'I pushed my youngest child to the side and before I had enough time to grab my big daughter, to push her, I saw her buckle and say my leg.'
One of the rounds struck the eight-year-old in the right leg, shattering her bone.
Her younger sister was not physically hurt, but the girls' father said she was traumatized by the violence she had witnessed.
The dad-of-two also suffered a gunshot wound his right arm, as did a 36-year-old woman.
All three victims were being treated at area hospitals for their injuries and were expected to recover.
Police are now looking for the two suspected gunmen, who they say had gotten into a dispute before opening fire on one another
Police released video and images of one of the suspects, seen wearing a green-and-black North Face jacket, paired with a blue scarf
Police said the shooting was preceded by a verbal dispute that erupted between the two armed suspects.
The newly released video shows the unidentified men drawing their guns and firing on one another on the sidewalk crowded with people in front of the Fine Foods supermarket.
The NYPD is searching for the gunmen. One of them was last seen wearing a black jacket, grey pants, a black baseball cap and a dark-colored face mask.
The other suspect was captured on surveillance video sporting a green-and-black North Face bubble jacket, a blue scarf and black-and-white sneakers.
Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477),