Corey Dunton, 16, was charged with Attempted Murder, Assault and Reckless Endangerment.
The victims, ages 20 and 14, were taken to Bellevue Hospital. One was shot in the back, the other in the leg. Both are in stable condition.
The shooting happened just after 11 p.m. Saturday night at the popular park in midtown Manhattan, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and near the New York Public Library. Sources say it all started with a fight over a coat.
Adonis Mera, 14, was shot in the back while skating at the rink at Bryant Park Saturday evening. Family members fear he may never walk again.
"I was shocked, wow him, why him out of everybody?" said the victim's friend, David Lopez, "he's a great kid, doesn't get into any of that type of violence."
Sources tell Eyewitness News that Mera was not the intended target, rather Javier Contreras. Sources say the suspect approached the 20-year-old, demanding he hand over his coat. When Contreras refused, the gunman opened fire, setting off a stampede at the popular Midtown spot at about 11 pm.
Mera is a regular at the rink, Saturday afternoon, he posted on his Facebook page "like my status if U going to Bryant Park". Then, just moments before he was shot, he commented on how crowded the rinks were.
There were an estimated 300 people on the ice at the time of the shooting. Witnesses say they heard shots and people started running in what became a chaotic scene.
"It was terrifying; my legs were shaking," said Raghuram Krishnamachari, who was dining with his family in a restaurant overlooking the park when they heard three shots being fired.
"We had a view of the whole thing, we saw it happening, and the first thing that came to my mind is, "It's a crazy person with a machine gun and all he wants to do is kill as many people as possible,'" the Brooklyn resident said.
Krishnamachari and his family barricaded themselves in a bathroom at the glassed-in restaurant and called 911.
Krishnamachari used his cellphone to snap a picture of the violence.
The 29-year-old software architect was dining at Celsius, a second-floor restaurant above the rink, when he heard the shots at about 11 p.m.
"Then we saw a bunch of people running on the ice," said Krishnamachari, who was with his girlfriend, her sister from Florida and the sister's husband - out for dinner after a Broadway show. Restaurant guests "were freaking out, shouting and running. My girlfriend started crying."
In a statement released Sunday morning, Bryant Park NYC said: "As you may have heard, there was a senseless act of violence last night that left two wounded. Our hearts go out to the wounded and their families, and to those who were at the park during that time. We are cooperating fully with authorities, who agree that it is safe to reopen. Please come by the park today and show that one person's behavior can't put a damper on the Winter Village!"
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
