One of the victims was in critical condition after being shot in the head. Mayor Eric Adams said the shooting occurred as Pride celebrations were ending.
Two people were shot in Greenwich Village in Manhattan on Sunday night, the Police Department said, steps from the Stonewall Inn, a bar that is an icon of the L.G.B.T.Q. rights movement.
The shooting occurred at 10:15 p.m. at West Fourth Street and Grove Street, the department said. One person was shot in the head and hospitalized in critical condition, Sgt. Matthew Forsythe said. A second person was in stable condition after being shot in the leg, he added.
Police were looking for a suspect, Sergeant Forsythe said. He said it was unclear if the shooting was connected to Sunday’s annual Pride march, which draws millions of people to Manhattan.
The location of the shooting is near the Stonewall Inn, a bar on Christopher Street that was set to host an event for Pride month from noon to 4 a.m. Representatives for the bar did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Douglas Breland, 47, a bouncer who provides security for Barrow Street Alehouse, a nearby bar, said he had texted his mother at 9:48 pm to tell her just how slow of a night he was having. After sending her a photo of the empty bar, he stepped outside to record a video of a nearly empty block.
About 30 minutes later, he sent his mother another message: “2 people were just shot on the corner ½ a block from me,” he wrote.
Mr. Breland said had heard at least four loud cracks — fireworks, he initially thought. A moment later, a man ran into the Alehouse and said that two people had been shot. “I’m traumatized,” he said.
What came next, Mr. Breland said, was a flurry of sounds. There were screams from parade goers running down the block, sirens and police officers yelling for people to clear out.
Hours later, Mr. Breland was sitting in a bar booth, still in disbelief. The streets outside were mostly empty except for some late-night revelers. Slices of pizza and greasy paper plates littered the ground. Police officers near barricades were sending people away from the scene. A detective was walking the crime scene, pointing out bullet casings, including one that was sitting on a manhole cover.
Mayor Eric Adams said on social media that he was saddened by the shooting, which he said had occurred as Pride celebrations were ending. He and Zohran Mamdani, the likely Democratic nominee for mayor, had both attended the annual New York City Pride March in Manhattan on Sunday.
“During a time when our city should be rejoicing and celebrating members of our diverse LGBTQ+ community, incidents like this are devastating,” Mr. Adams said.
The pride march is the largest event of its kind in the United States. It commemorates the 1969 Stonewall riots, which are widely seen as giving rise to the modern L.G.B.T.Q. rights movement.
