Tourist from Kansas City shot in Manhattan, person of interest in custody
MIDTOWN, Manhattan (WABC) -- A man from Kansas City is recovering after being shot in the shoulder in Midtown Manhattan overnight Wednesday, and police say a person of interest is in custody.
It happened just before 2:30 a.m. at the intersection of 8th Avenue and 38th Street as the man returned to New York from the Mets/Phillies game in Philadelphia.
Police say the assailant, wearing all black, pulled out a gun and opened fire on another person but missed and struck 44-year-old Chris Ruby instead.
The shot fractured his collarbone and his shoulder blade, and he was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.
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He was released before an afternoon flight home to Kansas City, and he spoke exclusively to Eyewitness News.
"I was having such a great time until this happened," he said.
He had just arrived at Penn Station and was walking down the street when he said he spotted the gunman with the weapon.
"He was pointing like that, and it looked like it was going this way, but when he pulled the trigger, I felt this bad pain in my shoulder," he said. "It looked like he was pointing to the side, not directly at me."
But he knew something was wrong when he felt the pain.
"I felt this huge pain in my shoulder, and I had no idea what it was," he said. "I was looking for blood, and I didn't see any blood."
He then ran into a smoke shop and realized he was bleeding profusely.
"I took off my jacket, and there was blood everywhere," he said. "It was really bad."
He said it was his first trip to New York City and that he arrived on Saturday. While he is not a fan of either the Mets or the Phillies, he is a baseball fan who wants to see a game in every stadium.
"I'm just ready to go home," he said. "I was in the hospital for five hours and then the police station for two or three...All those New York souvenirs I have, I don't want to look at them."
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The gunman fled northbound on 8th Avenue, and police said later in the day that a person of interest had been taken into custody.
Brannovan Martinez, 21, of the Bronx, is now charged with assault, criminal use of a firearm and reckless endangerment.
He is described as a reputed gang member with multiple prior arrests for drugs and assaults in the vicinity of the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
In January, he was arrested after he allegedly shoved his ex-girlfriend into a wall at Columbus Circle and West 58th Street.
He was arrested four times in 2019, including being one of three charged with assault for a fight outside Schnippers, the restaurant on the first floor of the New York Times building.
The 27-year-old victim in that case was stabbed and beaten with a tire iron in a gang related assault. Martinez is accused of directing the attack.
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