New York police are on the lookout for a suspect who allegedly opened fire inside a JD Sports store in Manhattan’s Times Square district on Thursday night and then shot a police officer shortly after.
According to a press conference from The New York Police Department, a female security officer stopped the suspect in JD Sports store on Thursday evening as he attempted to take products from the store. The suspect then opened fire inside the location and hit a 37-year-old female bystander in the leg. As police chased the suspect a few blocks away, he then opened fire two times on a police officer.
According to a police notice, the suspect was last seen entering the MTA Transit system and wanted on suspicion of attempted murder of a police officer.
Th suspect was described as a Hispanic man between the ages of 15 and 20 wearing all white, officials said. He was seen entering the store with two other men, and exiting with one man who police said was apprehended. The third person is still unaccounted for.
FN has reached out to JD Sports for a comment.
The news is a harrowing example of how an attempted retail theft can quickly turn violent. Across the U.S. retail crime has continued to plague large retailers, especially those in the sneaker and streetwear space, such as Nike and JD Sports. Last month, Los Angeles police arrested a suspect in connection with about $5 million worth of Nike stolen products. In October, police reportedly uncovered close to $5 million worth of stolen goods in a Chicago warehouse that included stolen shoes from brands such as Nike, Yeezy, Supreme and Ugg. And in June, Los Angeles police uncovered $7 million worth of Nike sneakers from a warehouse in Torrance, Calif., according to a report from CBS news affiliate KCAL Los Angeles.
The National Retail Federation’s 2023 National Retail Security Survey found that retail shrink, when taken as a percentage of total sales in 2022, accounted for $112.1 billion in losses in 2022, up from $93.9 billion in 2021.
