Times Square shooter was a child who opened fire into busy New York crowd with multiple hit
A child has left three people in hospital after a horror shooting in Times Square, opening fire in one of the world's most famous tourist hotspots, police confirmed.
A 17-year-old was arrested in New York's Times Square early this morning following the shooting, which the New York Police Department (NYPD) has said was a violent reaction to a dispute. Shocking footage taken early in the morning on Saturday showed people running in fear and getting out of cars as shots were allegedly sprayed into traffic, with first responders captured on camera seemingly attending to injured as they lay in the street amidst the commotion.
The teen opened fire at the intersection of 44th Street and 7th Avenue at around 1.20 am EST (6.20am BST), injuring an 18-year-old woman and two men, aged 19 and 65. It comes after reports of a dad's desperate phone call moments before explosion kills him and his daughters.
The New York Post reports that the woman was grazed in the neck by the shooting, with two men suffering gunshot wounds to the legs. All three were rushed to hospital.
The teenage shooter - who has not been identified because of his age - was taken into custody, with officers having recovered a firearm from the scene, the NYPD said. Pictures from the scene show the massive NYPD and emergency response this morning, with waves of officers seen containing crowds out on the town.
Dozens of people scattered in front of the Hard Rock Cafe, and one man could be seen receiving emergency treatment seemingly in the middle of the street.
Social media users have reacted with shock to the news, with one person saying they were sat in their car as the incident unfolded two vehicles ahead. They said: "I was two cars in front of the car that was shot up, and luckily, I didn't get shot." They added their "blood is still pumping" after the incident.
The incident comes just a matter of days after an assault rifle wielding gunman opened fire on workers inside a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper.
Shane Tamura, of Las Vegas, opened fire on workers at the iconic 345 Park Avenue on July 27, killing four people - one of whom was NYPD officer Didarul Islam, who left behind two children and a pregnant wife. Tamura, 27, who allegedly suffered from CTE, a brain disease sustained by American Football athletes, had planned to travel to the NFL headquarters.
But he instead carried out the shooting at the offices of real estate firm Rudin Management in a deadly case of mistaken identity.
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Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
American tried to assassinate her lover's enemy on Birmingham street wearing flip-flops and a summer dress - then the Daily Mail tracked the fugitive down
Grinning for the camera while holding a sign supporting her beloved American football team, the woman hardly looks like an assassin – let alone one operating in the UK. Yet Aimee Betro, 45, was found guilty on Tuesday of travelling 4,000 miles from her Wisconsin home to carry out a 'hit' on a man in Birmingham. Extraordinarily, the naive American received no payment for the shooting despite apparently struggling for money. Her motive? She was prepared to kill for love after becoming infatuated with a British petty criminal she met through a dating app. Betro, wearing a niqab to disguise herself, pointed a gun at her victim's head outside his home in Yardley and pulled the trigger. The pistol jammed, allowing her target, Sikander Ali, 33, to flee. But Betro wasn't finished, returning hours later to fire three shots through the windows of his home. Police said it was only by chance no one was killed. After the botched hit in September 2019, Betro returned to the US before going on the run in Armenia until the Daily Mail tracked her down in June last year and told the police of her whereabouts, leading to her arrest and return to the UK for trial. She denied all charges, telling her trial it was a 'terrible coincidence' she was around the corner six minutes after the shooting and it must have been another 'fat American woman' who bought the Mercedes used in the attack. Indeed, wearing a summer dress and flip-flops, Betro looked more like a relaxed tourist heading to the beach than a determined assassin in CCTV footage from after the attempt on Mr Ali's life. But jurors at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday found her guilty of conspiracy to murder, meaning the full story of how the American became caught up in a feud between two rival families in the Midlands can now be told in full for the first time. Betro showed no emotion as the verdicts were delivered, and her friends were unable to explain how she became embroiled in the bizarre murder plot. One told the Daily Mail she was the 'last person' they'd pick to kill someone, although another hinted at motivation when he said: 'She's either got brainwashed in some romance thing or she's been framed... it would be completely out of character.' Betro was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and her mother Jeanne Johnson, 64, and father Steven Betro, a convicted methamphetamine dealer, separated when she was young. She attended Stevens Point Area Senior High School and went on to study early childhood education at Mid-State Technical College in Wisconsin. A series of low paid jobs followed her graduation. She then worked as an administrator, selling tickets for her beloved Milwaukee Brewers Major League Baseball team. She lived a relatively normal existence until September 2018, when she met someone on a dating app who went by the name 'Dr Ice'. That man was Mohammed Nabil Nazir, now 31, from Derby. Betro was apparently smitten and soon began planning a two-week trip to the UK. She arrived in London on Christmas Day 2018, staying in an Airbnb in King's Cross and other hotels across the capital – although it is unclear how she funded the visit. Quizzed by her barrister Paul Lewis KC, she described how she did typical 'tourist stuff' – but also met Nazir, who is more than ten years her junior, for the first time when he visited her at the Airbnb and spent the night with her. It was the only time they ever slept together but it seems this encounter was all it took to turn Betro into a would-be hitwoman the following year. For Nazir, a petty drug dealer and 'businessman' was also a 'cunning and calculated criminal' involved in a bitter feud with another family, sparked by a row at the Seher bridal boutique in Birmingham owned by Aslat Mahumad. A fight in July 2018, over the price of a suit Nazir and his family believed was in the sale, left his taxi driver father Mohammed Aslam, 57, seriously injured, and Nazir 'hell-bent' on revenge. He set about plotting to kill Mr Mahumad or members of his family and convinced Betro to take part. So in August 2019 she flew to the UK again, arriving at Manchester airport from Atlanta before taking a train to Birmingham airport, where she hired a car – apparently at Nazir's request – and set off to see him in Derby. When she arrived, he took over driving the car and within minutes was in a collision with two vehicles – one driven by his father and the other by a woman he knew, both of whom later received insurance payouts. The court heard that far from being an unfortunate coincidence, the crash was part of an insurance scam orchestrated by Nazir, who fled the scene while Betro was on the phone to the AA, claiming she had been the one driving. It is not known if the other two were aware of the scam but prosecutor Tom Walkling KC said Betro was well aware, with the plot being evidence she was in love with Nazir and 'happy to break the law if that is what he wanted'. Mr Walkling asked Betro: 'Do you think with hindsight that Nazir was taking advantage of you?' She replied simply: 'I don't know.' After the crash, she checked into a hotel in Derby hoping to spend the following day – her birthday – with Nazir, but he said he was too busy and so she spent it wandering the city alone. Mr Walkling asked: 'Are we right in thinking you had gone to Derby for your birthday just to see Mr Nazir because you loved him?' She replied: 'Yes'. Mr Walkling went on: 'Were you still in love with Mr Nazir given how he had treated you [after the crash]?' Betro answered: 'I still cared for him, yes.' Days later, she checked into the Rotunda hotel in Birmingham using a fake name and tried to lure shopowner Mr Mahumad into meeting her on the pretence of buying a car he was selling. When that failed, she bought a second-hand Mercedes and drove to Measham Grove, in the Yardley area of Birmingham, where Mr Mahumad lived with his family, including his son, Sikander Ali. CCTV footage captured the moment Betro pulled up outside the home, where moments later Mr Ali arrived in a black SUV. Betro got out of the car and approached him with her gun drawn. She pulled the trigger but the weapon jammed, giving Mr Ali the chance to jump back into his car and speed away. Mr Walkling said the 'would-be assassin' tried to disguise her appearance by wearing a niqab or 'what looked like a burka' – traditional clothing worn by Muslim women to cover themselves. He told jurors she was 'not deterred' and 'returned to the same address a few hours later, using the now-working gun to shoot three bullets through the bedroom windows of the family home. Betro flew back to the US the following day with Nazir flying out to join her three days after. They visited various places, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and the military base at Area 51 in Nevada – which is at the centre of numerous conspiracy theories involving extra-terrestrial life and UFOs. Betro told jurors she did not even know there had been a shooting in Measham Grove and Nazir had not mentioned it during his time in the US, which ended in mid-October when he flew to Gatwick and was arrested. He and his father were jailed last year, both found guilty of conspiracy to murder but with Nazir also convicted of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and doing acts intending to pervert the course of justice. He was sentenced to 32 years while Aslam was jailed for ten. But Betro evaded authorities for five years – despite an international warrant for her arrest – until she was tracked down to a bolthole in Armenia thanks to investigations by the Daily Mail. Informing West Midlands Police of her location, the Daily Mail agreed to a news blackout until she was arrested to avoid her fleeing again before she could be extradited to the UK for trial. While giving evidence, she claimed it was 'another American woman' who booked taxis after the shooting and denied any involvement. But her DNA was found on a glove in the Mercedes and the gun used was a rare American Hi-Point C9 pistol – which has not been seen by experts in this country before or since the attempted murder. Police still do not know how she got the gun – it was never recovered and was only identified by ballistic experts. The prosecution raised the possibility of it being smuggled from the US, but did not know exactly how. Because Betro was extradited under a 'red notice' (a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and arrest a person) she was immediately charged and remanded in custody rather than being first arrested and interviewed, meaning she was never questioned by police. Meanwhile, Nazir gave only 'no comment' answers during his police interview. The pair also communicated largely by Snapchat, where messages disappear after being sent, so what they discussed may never be revealed. Nazir and his father's bank records were examined and found to have no evidence of payments to Betro. In fact, she had even paid for Nazir's return ticket to the US after the botched hit. Detective Chief Inspector Alastair Orencas from West Midlands Police said her motivation was that she was 'in love or infatuated with him' and that it was only through luck or incompetence that Mr Ali was not dead. 'It would have been a point-blank discharge of a self-loading pistol,' he said. 'I have no doubt whatsoever that if that gun had discharged at that point he would have died. It strikes me that it was a well-planned, persistent murderous attempt to take someone's life.' He said she was 'on the face of it, a normal-looking individual [but] prepared to do an outrageous, audacious and persistent murder'. Nor was her involvement 'off-the-cuff madness' but pre-planned with others across continents, he added. 'I think [she] has had a somewhat problematic relationship with the truth in not accepting what she was accused of.' But he said Betro's use of a niqab to hide her face 'didn't work very well' as 'the footwear didn't change, phones didn't change' and various CCTV cameras caught her in the area of the shooting. Such was her infatuation that Betro continued to help Nazir even after the failed murder plot, posting ammunition and gun parts to another one of his rivals, former business partner Faris Quayum, in a bid to frame him. She was also found guilty of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and a charge related to posting the gun parts and the ammunition into the UK from a US post office. Her sentencing date is August 21. Judge Simon Drew said: 'I suspect Ms Betro would like to know the outcome of this case and there is nothing worse than sitting waiting.' During her trial, she had to endure a four-hour round trip from women-only HMP New Hall in West Yorkshire, the closest facility to Birmingham that caters for 'Category A' women such as her – including serial killer Rose West. Specialist prosecutor Hannah Sidaway said: 'Betro tried to kill a man at point-blank range. It is sheer luck that he managed to get away unscathed. 'Only Betro knows what truly motivated her or what she sought to gain from becoming embroiled in a crime that meant she travelled hundreds of miles to execute an attack on a man she did not know.' Her mother, who had urged Betro to hand herself in, said 'I'm not interested' when contacted this week. She too must be left wondering how her daughter, who was 'no trouble as a child', has found herself behind bars with some of the UK's most dangerous criminals.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Chaotic surveillance video shows moment car slams into New York food truck, killing three people
The moment a car slammed into a New York City food truck, killing the driver and two pedestrians, has been captured in horrific surveillance video obtained by the Daily Mail. The New York Police Department said the wreck unfolded on Tuesday a little after 8:30am on 42nd Street near 19th Avenue in Astoria, a neighborhood in Queens. The video shows a gray Toyota Corolla flying down the road before striking two pedestrians and ramming head-on into the food truck. After the impact, the Corolla spun around and hit a Volvo sedan that was traveling northbound on 42nd Street while it was attempting to make a U-turn to go south. Debris from all the vehicles involved was scattered all over the street as police and paramedics rushed to the scene to render whatever aid they could. The 84-year-old man behind the wheel of the Corolla and the 70-year-old pedestrian were both transported to Elmhurst Hospital, police said. Neither of them survived. The other pedestrian who was hit, a 42-year-old man, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police. The driver of the Volvo was unharmed and no other injuries were reported. Giancarlo Caruso was standing right next to the men who were standing on the street who were killed and said the car 'missed me by a millimeter'. 'All of a sudden I hear loud screeching from tires and a really loud engine roar. It sounded like it was right on top of me. Someone screamed really loudly,' Caruso said. 'As soon as I heard that scream and the screeching, I stepped back and a vehicle going about 60 miles an hour mauled two of the customers that were with me,' he added. 'I felt the wind hit my leg and like I said, the gentleman right next to me got struck really bad.' Caruso said he went into 'fight or flight mode' after the collision. He saw someone trying to rip the door off the Corolla to help the driver out, so he ran over to help out before calling 911. When asked to describe the scene and the victims, Caruso said the two men who were hit were 'laid out and lifeless'. He also saw blood on the windshield of the Corolla. Francisco Neto, the owner of a doggy day care on the street where the crash happened, said he knew one of the pedestrians who was killed. He identified him only as Joaquin and said he managed Astoria Discount Tire right across the street from his business. Neto said he got close to Joaquin after he introduced himself about a year ago when the tire shop first opened. The NYPD declined to confirm the identity of any of the victims when contacted by Daily Mail. 'The guy who died, his name is Joaquin. Very nice guy. He helped us a lot with the cars here. He just replaced all four of my tires the other day,' Neto said, adding that he was in his mid-forties. 'It's sad,' he added. 'Everybody here is a mechanic, tow truck, tire shop, but I know them. I've been here for almost 10 years.' The NYPD told Daily Mail that no arrests have been made in connection to the crash, but clarified that they are still investigating what happened.
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Lioness Jess Carter felt 'relief' when black teammate wasn't only player who missed Euros penalty
Lioness Jess Carter was targeted by vile racist trolls during the Women's Euros in Switzerland last month, forcing her to hand over her social media accounts to a dedicated team Lioness Jess Carter has admitted she felt 'relief' when some of her white teammates missed a penalty at the Euros - amid fears of more horrific racial abuse. The 27-year-old was forced to come off social media during the tournament last month, after she was plagued by vile racist trolls. The Football Association (FA) called British police to investigate the messages aimed at her online, but did not disclose which platforms she had been targeted on. Now following their incredible consecutive European Championship win, the England defender has said she feared her fellow black teammate Lauren James would face 'astronomical' abuse when she missed a penalty in the quarter-finals. Jess admitted she even breathed a 'sign of relief' when a number of Lionesses who are 'not black' went on to also miss their penalty in the dramatic quarter-final shootout against Sweden. Jess, from Warwick, told ITN: "It's horrible to say but it's almost like a sigh of relief when other players that weren't black missed a penalty, because the racism that would have come with LJ [Lauren James] being the only one that missed would have been astronomical. "It's not because we want them to fail - it's about knowing how it's going to be for us [black England players] if we miss." Speaking about the impact the abuse had on her, Jess added: "It makes you feel really small. It makes you feel like you're not important, that you're not valuable. "It makes you second guess everything that you do - it's not a nice place to be. It doesn't make me feel confident going back on to the pitch. My family was so devastated by it as well and so sad." The FA, UEFA, Lioness boss Sarina Wiegman and the squad all slammed the abuse Jess faced as abhorrent. It prompted a move by the furious players to stop taking the knee - a symbolic movement against racism where footballers have knelt on the pitch in the seconds before a match kicks off. It was started by former American Football quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2016, but took off among English players following the racially aggravated death of George Floyd in 2020. Lioness Alex Greenwood said yesterday (Tuesday) that 'more needs to be done' to stop racist abuse in football, as she blasted it as 'unacceptable'. She said: "I can never understand what the girls are going through and that's so hard, but if I can have a voice as a white player and person and say it's totally unacceptable for it to happen, then we need to be confident enough to stand up and say that. Speaking about the relief Jess felt at England's missed penalties, Alex, 31, from Liverpool said: "The fact that thought goes through your head in that moment is really sad."
