NYPD: Stray Bullet Strikes MTA Bus In East Harlem; No Injuries
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The NYPD is investigating a shooting in East Harlem, where a stray bullet hit the side of a bus full of passengers on Sunday afternoon.
Police said the incident happened at around 2:15 p.m. The MTA bus was struck in the area of 125th Street and Lexington Avenue, CBS2's Leah Mishkin reported.
Surveillance video captured images of a person in red pants appearing to fire gun down the street. Police said it was two people shooting at each other.
"It's getting really sad out here. That's what I'm saying," one local resident said.
People were seen running from the scene. The MTA said one of the bullets hit the right side of a bus carrying about 30 people. Mishkin was told nobody was hurt.
"It hit the right side window where we normally have a wheelchair passenger if the chair was folded up. However, it was in the down position so we had a passenger sitting in that seat," said Donald Yates of Transport Workers Union Local 100.
Yates, who represents bus operators in Manhattan and the Bronx, said he spoke to the driver in Sunday's incident, adding he was shaken up as he described what happened.
"He instructed his customers to get to the ground, get to the floor, and he completed the turn safely so he could make sure that the bus was in a safe position," Yates said.
The president and chief of staff of TWU Local 100 said this is the fourth bus in the past six months that's been hit by a bullet, adding in a statement, "It's dangerous out there, too dangerous, and our bus operators are defenseless. Some of them are even asking for bulletproof vests."
"And our bus routes go through all of this madness," Yates added. "And it's like repeating the 1970s, like the wild Wild West out there."
Resident Frank King said guns are too accessible.
"I remember 10-15 years old, fights. My crew against your crew ... Nobody had no guns. Something is happening, that it's not just one dude got the gun. Everybody's got the gun," King said. "I'm 100 feet from any handgun I want. Right now, it's not no mystery," King said.
He said his other concern is finding suspects during a pandemic.
"Who gets arrested? It's legal to be like this," he said as he pulled his mask up.
Camilo Vergara has been photographing the area for decades to capture the changes in the neighborhood. He said, recently, more and more crime scenes are ending up on his film.
"A couple of days ago there was somebody shot in front of the Apollo. About two weeks ago there was somebody shot on 116th Street at a Burger King. It's really telling me that things are getting a lot worse," Vergara said.
Police said they're looking for the two people involved in this shooting as the investigation continues.
CBS2's Leah Mishkin contributed to this report.
