Battery Park Shooting Suspect Arrested By NYPD

BATTERY PARK, NY — Police are charging a Brooklyn man with attempted murder after he allegedly shot and injured two people on Monday, authorities said.

Jason Wright was charged on Thursday with multiple crimes in connection with the lower Manhattan shooting, an NYPD spokesman told Patch. The shooting injured two people near Battery Park. (For more news from the Financial District and the rest of New York City, subscribe to Patch news alerts here.)

Wright, 37, was charged with attempted murder, assault, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and reckless endangerment, the spokesman said.

Monday's shooting, which happened in front of 2 Washington St., reportedly follow a dispute between two Statue of Liberty ticket scalpers. Police said that two men were arguing when someone "opened fire," striking a 40-year-old man in the torso and hitting a 34-year-old woman in the leg. Police believe the woman was a bystander. Both the man and the woman with gunshot wounds were treated for their injuries at nearby hospitals and were in stable condition on Monday night.

On Tuesday, the NYPD asked for help locating Wright and another unidentified man, who they said were wanted in connection with the incident.

Patch was not immediately able to locate an attorney for Wright.

Robert Boyce, the NYPD's chief of detectives, told CBS New York that investigators believe the two men were ticket scalpers.

"We believe they are the individuals who were selling tickets down there," he said. "We don't know the exact cause of the dispute, but we believe it is over ticket selling."

Council Member Margaret Chin, who represents the Battery Park area, called on the city to clamp down on illegal ticket scalping in the area.

"This shooting is the last straw in an unacceptable situation for residents and visitors in the Battery area," Chin said in a statement. "For years, ticket sellers have regularly harassed and intimidated anyone unlucky enough to cross their path...This recent shooting, which occurred in broad daylight with young children nearby, presents an unacceptable level of danger."

Chin said that ticket selling at the Battery, where tourists depart for ferry trips to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, had "clearly spiraled out of control."

Monday's shooting was an aberration for downtown Manhattan, which has seen virtually no gun violence in recent years. There have been no shootings reported in the NYPD's 1st precinct, which covers Tribeca and Fidi, in at least two years, police records show.

This story has been updated throughout.

Lead image via Patch.