1 dead, 3 injured in shooting at NYC concert venue

New York, May 26

One person was killed and three others were wounded in a shooting inside a concert venue in New York City, where hip-hop artist TI was scheduled to perform, the police said.

It happened around 10:15 pm local time yesterday at Irving Plaza, near Manhattan’s Union Square.

The police said a 34-year-old man was shot in the chest and a 33-year-old man was shot in the stomach. One of the men later died at a hospital, the police did not say which one.

A 26-year-old woman was shot in the leg. The police said a fourth person walked into a hospital on their own.

Elijah Rodriguez was attending the concert with his sister and they were in the VIP area by the stage.

He said TI was supposed to go on stage at 9 or 9:30 pm but “he never showed up”. Around 10 pm he said the venue started playing music again, and about 10:15 pm, he saw a line of people coming out from where the performers were coming onstage.

“All the sudden I heard someone saying that there was a shot, that someone got shot,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez didn’t actually hear the shots himself, but heard people saying that someone had gotten shot.

“It was scary to deal with. When I got outside, like literally across the street, there were a few girls having, like, panic attacks. One girl thought she saw someone get shot in front of her,” Rodriguez said, adding that TI was not onstage when the shots were fired.

Video shot inside the venue showed a chaotic scene as concertgoers rushed to the sides trying to leave the area as a group of people tended to a person on the floor.

Representatives for TI, whose real name is Clifford Joseph Harris Jr, said they were referring all questions about the shooting to police.

No arrests were made. No other information was immediately available. Irving Plaza is a 1,025-person ballroom-style music venue. — AP