The ice skating rink at Byrant Park in New York was splattered with the blood of two innocent people after a 16-year-old teen opened fire, late Saturday night. Police charged the teen with attempted murder, assault, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.
Hundreds of kids, teens and adults were enjoying the weekend skating on the flat, white surface of ice on Saturday evening. But in a fraction of a minute, the clear freezing surface of ice was splattered with blood, creating chaos in the crowd. Yet another horrifying incident in the most unlikely places in New York stunned the audience.
Two youths, a young 14-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man, were injured during a shooting at a popular Midtown Manhattan skating rink. The 16-year-old suspected shooter, identified as Corey Dunton, was behind the horrifying incident. The New York City police said robbery was the motive behind the shooting.
According to the investigators, Dunton approached the 20-year-old Javier Contreras and demanded his coat. When Contreras declined, the young teen returned and opened fire. Contreras was shot in the leg, but another innocent bystander, 14-year-old Adonis Mera of East Harlem, was caught in the misfire. Mera was shot in the back and is unlikely to walk again.
"He can't move anything from the waist down," his brother, Jorge Arias, 29, told the Daily News, late Saturday.
"Of all people, why him?" David Lopez, 15, a friend of Mera cried, according to the report. "He's a good kid. He doesn't have any problems with anyone and doesn't get into any kind of violence."
Joe Carella, a spokesman for Bryant Park Corporation, said there were nearly 300 people at the time of the incident. The park reopened on Sunday and welcomed a normal amount of crowd. Several visitors to the park were not even aware of the shooting.
The police charged Dunton with attempted murder, assault, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment, Sunday night, following his arrest the same morning. Dunton has a violent history, according to the police, with crimes involving robbery and grand larceny, reports NY Post.
