A Kansas man who traveled all the way to New York City to see the Mets-Phillies game ended up getting shot by a stray bullet on his way back to a hotel.
A Kansas man was on his way to his hotel in New York City after catching an out-of-state baseball game when he was struck in the shoulder by a stray bullet, police said. The 44-year-old victim was taken to the hospital after he was shot just before 2 a.m. Tuesday near West 38th Street and Eighth Avenue.
A spokesperson for the NYPD said they do not believe the tourist was the intended target.
The out-of-towner went to the Mets-Phillies game in Philadelphia and then took the Amtrak back to New York where he was staying at a hotel in midtown, the New York Daily News reported. When the victim was struck, he didn't realize he had been shot until he took of his jacket and noticed the blood.
"I was having such a great time until this happened," the victim told ABC7. "All those New York souvenirs I have, [now] I don't want to look at them."
The bullet fractured his collarbone but he was able to be released from the hospital and fly back home.
"I'm just ready to go home," he said.
A 21-year-old suspect was arrested later Wednesday and charged with assault, criminal use of a firearm and reckless endangerment.
“I think people see these actions and they know that continued help is coming,” the mayor added. “New Yorkers don’t live in fear, they keep moving forward. I really believe that," Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a morning press conference.
"We've seen a serious uptick in violence that has to be addressed."
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