New York: A 17-year-old suspect is in police custody after opening fire in New York City's Times Square early Saturday morning, injuring three people in one of the busiest areas of Manhattan, according to the New York Police Department.

The shooting took place at approximately 1:20 a.m. near the intersection of West 44th Street and Seventh Avenue, following what police described as a dispute.

 

The victims include an 18-year-old woman who suffered a graze wound to her neck, and two men aged 19 and 65, who were shot in the lower limbs. All three were taken to Bellevue Hospital and are reported to be in stable condition. None of the injuries is considered life-threatening, officials confirmed.

"The perpetrator has been taken into police custody, and a firearm has been recovered," an NYPD spokesperson said. However, formal charges had not been filed as of Saturday evening.

The incident occurred in the heart of the city’s theatre district, an area frequently crowded with tourists and locals alike.

It comes less than two weeks after a separate shooting in Manhattan, where a gunman injured four people before fatally shooting himself inside a skyscraper.

Investigations into the Times Square shooting are ongoing.

AFP inputs