Thaindian News

By Gina Gomez
New York, Dec.11, (THAINDIAN NEWS) Square witnessed a violent shooting incident on Thursday when a street peddler was shot dead by an undercover police officer. The incident took place during the busy hours when Times Square was crowded by shoppers and tourist more so because of the upcoming festivities of Christmas. The peddler has been identified as 25 year old Raymond Martinez who hails from Bronx and was also wanted in an assault case.

It was later revealed that Sergeant Christopher Newsom identified the peddler and asked for his identification proof. On being approached by the cop, the peddler started running away and started firing from his machine pistol. Supposedly, he fired two shots but later his gun got jammed. However, this forced the sergeant to fire back at him and this resulted in the peddler being hit in his chest and arms. The encounter left the peddler dead although the sergeant did not suffer any severe injuries. At the same time, the violent encounter left the tourist and the shoppers shocked with window panes of nearby shops getting completely crashed. Although, initially following the incident the adjoining area turned a bit tense but few hours later everything came back to normal.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly later revealed that Sergeant Christopher Newsom is part of the Midtown South Precinct peddler unit that keeps a track of panhandling. As a result, he could easily identify Raymond Martinez as an unlicensed seller who along with his brother was trying to fool tourist by convincing them to purchase CDs.