A 17-year-old boy was killed in Upper Manhattan Friday afternoon in a broad-daylight shooting that sent bystanders running for cover, police and witnesses said.
The chaos unfolded around 3:20 p.m. near 148th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue in Hamilton Heights when a gunman fired a barrage of bullets on the busy street, police said.
When first responders arrived, they found the 17-year-old who had been shot multiple times in the back, cops said. He was transported to Harlem Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Witness Antonio Roboostoff was in his apartment overlooking the scene when he heard the gunfire and looked outside to crowds ducking into the subway and hiding behind cars.
“I was looking outside trying to catch a beat from the day we had and I heard ‘pop-pop-pop-pop’ and I see everyone running down the street,” said Roboostoff.
“I see people running down the subway and it’s just like chaos on this street, which I’ve never seen before. No one knew what was going on. It was a shock for so many people.”
After the deadly shooting, police surrounded a nearby recording studio after receiving word the suspected shooter may have barricaded himself inside the location, police and sources said.
Authorities remained at the scene for several hours, but when they finally gained entry to the studio towards nightfall, nobody was there, cops said.
Sources said investigators may have received a false tip, or the suspect could have fled out the back of the building.
No arrests were made by late Friday.
Another witness, Will Smith, said he’s never felt unsafe in the area.
“This is uncommon [for this neighborhood],” he said. “I am taken aback to say the least.”
