Elderly man, 74, killed in broad-daylight, drug-related shooting in NYC park — second victim stable: cops

Two men were shot, one fatally, when gunfire erupted in Tompkins Square Park on Friday morning during what law enforcement sources said was a drug-related burst of violence.

The two victims, 74 and 44, were blasted in the back around 9:50 a.m. at East 7th Street and Avenue A, within the historic East Village Park, cops said.

Both were taken to Bellevue Hospital, where they were initially listed in stable condition, police said.

But the older man’s condition soon worsened and he died of his injuries, police said.

The younger man’s condition also deteriorated and he was listed in critical condition by the late afternoon, authorities said.

Police couldn’t immediately say if a shooter was still on the loose.

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Video obtained by The Post captured the moments shots rang out in the park, sending people scattering.  One person can be seen falling down to the ground.

It wasn’t clear based on the footage who was firing.

The motive was under investigation, cops said, but sources described the broad-daylight violence as narcotics-related.

Justin Desantis, 52, who lives across the street, said he heard several bangs that sounded like fireworks coming from the area of the park near the chess tables.

“I thought maybe that could be gunfire,” Desantis said. “It sounded very loud — it was about seven [shots] … Then I heard sirens that came pretty quickly afterwards.”

He went outside and witnessed EMTs tending to a man on the ground.

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“EMS were working on a black man lying on the ground initially lying on his side,” Desantis said. “They were working on him — they had put something on his face and they were pumping like handheld thing.”

“He was conscious because I think I heard a moan at some point.”

A man who only identified himself as Jett, 23, who lives on Avenue A between East 7th Street and St. Marks Place, called the violence “obviously very frightening.”

But he said charity workers handing out food on Avenue A “seemed pretty unconcerned.”

“Maybe they didn’t realize what happened, but it seemed kind of business as usual,” Jett added.

Omar Gonzalez, 24, who has lived out of a Toyota Dolphin van on East 7th Street between avenues A and B for about three months, said he saw one of the victims run into a nearby bodega called Avenue A Deli and Grill.

“There’s blood all over the bodega,” Gonzalez said. “There’s tissues soaked in blood. There’s blood on the entrance. And there’s blood all over the floor and the counters. It’s a crime scene.”

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“It was a beef, like a drug beef,” the witness said.

Blood-soaked bandages left behind by paramedics could be seen strewn across the floor of the bodega, with a trail of blood spatter leading from the sidewalk into the store.

“A guy ran in here covered in blood … and collapsed on the floor where all the blood is,” a worker who identified himself as Joe told The Post, adding they called an ambulance.  “He collapsed right away and went unconscious.”

Gonzalez said he did not expect to see deadly violence break out at the park.

“I thought it was pretty safe,” he said. “A lot of people told me this place gets dangerous. Every once in a while, like four months ago, there was a shooting. But I haven’t seen anything until now.”

Robert Perez, 47, who has lived across from the park for his whole life, said the problem area is at the corner of Avenue A and East 7th Street, near the chess tables.

“There’s always about 20 people there, dealers and junkies who are nodding out but looking at you like ‘What the hell are you looking at? You wanna do something?’” Perez said.

The corner was “cleaned up” by the city about a decade ago, but became dicey again during the COVID-19 pandemic and “has been infected all over again,” he said.

“There’s shady people. It’s kinda crazy.” Perez said. “It was a matter of time until there was a shooting here.”

Two innocent bystanders were shot and wounded in the greenspace back in March, and just days later, a gunman opened fire but no one was hurt, authorities said then.

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