A 39-year-old bouncer was killed early Saturday when a gunman opened fire inside a Manhattan bar, according to officials and witnesses.
The bouncer was inside Tom & Jerry’s on Elizabeth St. near E. Houston St. in NoHo around 3:20 a.m. when the gunman, who was outside on the street, began shooting into the establishment, according to police.
The gunman shot the victim twice in the chest and once in the stomach before fleeing. At least four rounds were fired. Bullet holes were discovered in the bar’s window.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the shooter was aiming for his victim when he opened fire.
Witnesses claimed the shooter was inebriated and had just been ejected from the bar when the bullets began flying.
“They kicked him out, and he went outside, and he just pulled out a gun,” said Kevin Ames, who was visiting a friend who lives upstairs from the bar at the time. “[He] shot through the window, killing one of the bouncers.”
“We were there like an hour before,” Ames, 45, said of the bar. “They’re open till 4 a.m. and it happened at 3:30 in the morning, right at the end of the night.”
Another neighbor heard the shots just as she was about to fall asleep.
“It was so loud, I thought someone was banging on my door and pushing it in, so I was afraid to leave my apartment,” said the woman, who asked not to be identified. “I looked outside and saw nothing. And there’s always a disturbance, so I wasn’t too concerned.”
EMS rushed the victim to Bellevue Hospital, but he was unable to be saved. The man’s name was not immediately released as police attempted to locate and notify family members.
The gunman, described as Hispanic and wearing a grey hoodie, dark pants, and white shoes, fled down E. Houston St.
There have been no arrests made.
The iconic bar, which appeared on the HBO show “Girls,” was closed Saturday. An email to the company was not promptly returned.
Saturday’s bloodshed was NoHo’s first homicide and shooting of the year.
Locals and workers were taken aback by the violence, which they say is unusual in the thriving nightlife district.
“It’s a trendy neighborhood,” says a 70-year-old man who works nearby. “But, this is New York. Things happen all over the place. “Nowhere is immune.”
