One Killed, Three Shot at T.I. Concert in New York
One man was killed and three others were shot at a T.I. concert at New York’s Irving Plaza Wednesday night, with one of the victims remaining in critical condition.
“A preliminary investigation revealed that the shooting took place at the third floor green room area,” Chief of Manhattan South Detectives William Aubry said at a press conference. “At the time of the shooting, two performers were performing onstage: Maino and Uncle Murda.” It is unclear what led to the shooting. T.I. was also in the venue but had not appeared onstage when the shooting took place around 10:15 p.m.
Juliet Vahos, 20, attended the concert and described hearing a “loud rumbling noise” inside the venue. “We were facing the stage on the ground floor, about three rows back from the gate of the stage,” Vahos tells Rolling Stone. “It sounded like there was a loud rumbling noise in the VIP section on the right balcony. It sounded like two shots. Some people were saying that it was ‘just a fight.’ About 30 seconds later, we definitely heard multiple gunshots. Everyone was running like you’ve never seen them run before.”
By around 11 p.m., the New York City Police department tweeted that “Scene safe at this time. Please stay clear of area.”
Ronald McPhatter, 33, was shot in the chest and rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Christopher Vinson, 34, was shot in the chest and is in critical condition, while two others shot Wednesday night had less serious injuries. Maggie Heckstall, 26, was shot in the leg and taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition, while a fourth victim, Roland Collins (aka New York rapper Troy Ave), walked into NYU Langone Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the leg.
A rep for T.I. referred all inquiries to the NYPD. Reps for Maino, Uncle Murda and Troy Ave did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
One eyewitness claimed, in an interview with New York television station Pix11, that there was “pushing, people blocking each other, using people as shields so they don’t get the bullet.”
“People were falling down the stairs,” concert attendee Heather Hallock, 20, tells Rolling Stone. “There was a large woman who fell at the bottom of the stairs and people were running over her. We ran outside and across the street and waited there for the rest of our group. Ambulances started pulling up. They were pulling out 3, 4, 5 gurneys.”
Gunshots just went off at the T.I concert, never been so scared in my life pic.twitter.com/rn0CjpAuaU
— Marco (@markygeezy) May 26, 2016
No arrests have been made, but Aubry told CBS News that police found ballistic evidence used in the shooting. Myles Miller, a reporter for Pix11, tweeted that police are allegedly looking at surveillance video of the suspect in the green room.
This story is developing.
Additional reporting by Althea Legaspi and Sarah Grant.