NEW YORK — A quick-thinking Manhattan homeless man likely saved his own life when he scared off a gunman who shot him by pretending to call 911 — despite not having a phone.
The gunman went on to shoot another sleeping homeless man to death just an hour later, and now police are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
The surviving victim, a 38-year-old man, was sleeping on King Street in Hudson Square when he awoke to the sensation of a bullet tearing through his right forearm about 5 a.m. Saturday, cops said.
“What are you doing?” he screamed when he saw the shooter, wearing all black including a black mask, still pointing the gun at him.
The victim jumped up and faked putting a phone to his ear even though he has no cellphone and said he was calling the police, sources said.
The spooked gunman ran off east on King Street, while the victim scrambled to a nearby red emergency reporting system box attached to a pole on Varick Street.
The gunman found his second target about 6 a.m. on Howard Street near Lafayette Street. He shot the sleeping man bundled in a sleeping bag in the head and neck and ran off west on Howard Street.
The victim was discovered dead in the sleeping bag almost 11 hours later. Police were still working to determine his identity Sunday.
The NYPD announced Sunday it is offering a $10,000 reward for help catching the sadistic shooter, a young thin Black man, about 5-foot-4, wearing all black including a black mask. Police released surveillance images of the gunman Saturday.
After the shootings, a task force of police officers and homeless outreach workers will patrol the subway system and locations where homeless people stay to encourage them to sleep in city-run shelters, Mayor Eric Adams said Saturday.
The shootings come more than two years after Randy Rodriguez Santos was accused of bludgeoning four homeless men to death with a pipe in Chinatown in October 2019. Santos, who was also homeless, is locked up on Rikers Island as he awaits trial.
Anyone with information about Saturday’s shootings is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
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