22 people suffered personal injury in New York after the sound of a motorcycle backfiring while crossing Time Square triggered mass panic as the crowd mistakenly thought an active shooter was on location.
The recent mass shootings that occurred over the last few days in El Paso, Texas and Dayton Ohio are still on everybody’s mind and yesterday’s panic indicates that people are on edge when crossing busy areas such as Time Square.
Around 10:00 pm yesterday night as people were just coming out of the Broadway shows and were gathering in the middle of Time Square when a group of motorcyclists passed through 7th Avenue and 46th Street. One of them backfired and people thought someone was firing a gun. A mass panic followed when two to three thousand tourists and New Yorkers started to scream and run for cover believing a active shooter was on location. Some people left behind their shoes and their bags and others got injured in the chaos. A total of 22 people were injured and among them 4 had to be taken to the hospital to be treated. The police confirmed that the area is safe.