Cops fatally shoot man in Times Square

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NYPD officer shoots man outside Midtown hotel
Tim Fleischer
Dec 10, 2009 02:50 PM

TIMES SQUARE (WABC) -- Police pursuing a suspect shot and killed a man who they say fired on them in the Times Square area.

New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne says the suspect was killed in a passenger dropoff area at the Marriott Marquis hotel.

The hotel is located in the Broadway theater district and near the heart of Times Square.

The shooting happened in a very busy area, filled with shoppers and tourists, near West 46th Street and Broadway just before 11:30 a.m.

According to officials, an undercover officer was dealing with illegal peddlers in Times Square.

When the officer approached two peddlers, one of them took off running and a chase ensued.

The sergeant pursued, and the man turned and fired with a Mac-10 machine pistol that held 30 rounds; he got off two shots before it jammed, Browne said, shattering the glass window at a Broadway baby store.

The officer returned fire, police said, hitting the suspect several times.

The suspect was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

He was later identified as Raymond Martinez, 25, of the Bronx.

Martinez had been wanted for assault in the Bronx, but the officer approached him because he was recognized as an aggressive panhandler, authorities said. There were 27 live rounds left in his gun recovered at the scene, authorities said.

The officer was apparently not wounded, but was being treated for trauma. He was assigned to an Operation Impact zone in the Midtown South Precinct.

A Marriott spokeswoman said that the shooting did not involve any hotel employees or guests. She said police were on site conducting their investigation.

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Suspect dies in Times Square shooting; holiday crowds unharmed
By Ross Levitt and Susan Candiotti, CNN
December 10, 2009 6:02 p.m. EST

New York (CNN) -- A shootout Thursday between a police officer and a street peddler in busy Times Square -- crowded with holiday shoppers and tourists -- left the suspect dead but no one else harmed, New York police said.

New York Police Department Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said gunfire was exchanged after a police sergeant confronted two men who were selling goods on the street. The sergeant, a member of a task force on street peddlers, believed he recognized one of the men as using "aggressive" sales tactics and coercing tourists to buy unwanted items, Browne said.

One of the men fled, pulled a Mac-10 pistol and fired two shots at the officer, Browne said. A bullet shattered glass in the window of the box office of the Marquis Theater and the other bullet hit a nearby souvenir shop, Browne said.

The officer returned fire and hit the suspect, a 25-year-old man who was later pronounced dead at a hospital, Browne said.

Browne said the suspect's gun jammed, with 27 rounds remaining in the weapon.

Police found a business card for a gun dealer on the victim, Browne said. On the back of the card was a handwritten note saying, "I feel sorry for a cop who thinks I'm getting into his paddy wagon."

The gun was reported stolen from the Richmond, Virginia, area in October, Browne said.