The NYPD opened fire to stop a shootout on the corner of a Bronx street on Saturday night – and when the smoke cleared, one man was dead and two others, including a pedestrian, were injured.
Police rushed to Findlay Avenue and East 166th in Concourse Village at 6:30 pm after two gunmen started shooting at the intersection, leaving a rival apparently dead, the police said.
It was still daylight when three uniformed police officers opened fire to engage the two armed men, injuring one, police said.
During the shooting, a stray bullet hit an innocent passer in the arm, police said. The identity of the victim was not revealed Saturday night.
“Police officers immediately aided the victim, including applying a tourniquet and a quick clot to the wound,” NYPD assistant chief Kenneth Lehr told reporters.
It was not clear whose bullet hit the viewer.
None of the officers involved were injured, the police said. The charges were still pending against the two snipers and there were no more suspects being sought on Saturday night.
The police did not immediately disclose the names of those involved.
The police officers who arrived “observed two men, each armed with a firearm, shooting towards a third man who was running away and running towards the police,” said Lehr.
The suspects fled down the street and entered College Avenue.
“At this point, they find two uniformed policemen on a pole,” said Lehr.
“The snipers then threw their weapons into a nearby van and were taken into custody without incident.”
The rival the two men were shooting died after being hit several times by bullets from their pursuers, police said.
Photos from the scene show neighbors walking around the crime tape, where about a dozen bullet bullets were scattered on the sidewalk.
“I just heard shots and threw myself on the floor. I stopped at the door and saw someone lying in the middle of the street, ”witness Mike Hernandez told The Post.
“Believe me, there were a lot of shots. There were a lot of shots, ”said Hernandez, a 26-year-old worker from El Pollo # 1 Deli Grocery at the intersection.
“I don’t even know what to say honestly,” he added. “It is not the first time that I have seen things like this before. It is nothing new. “