Five people were shot on a Harlem basketball court Wednesday night during an annual basketball tournament, officials and witnesses said.
Gunfire erupted around 10 p.m. at the Holcombe Rucker Park court on Frederick Douglass Boulevard near W. 155th St. after a dispute during a game for the Entertainers Basketball Classic, witnesses said.
“They started arguing, about a bad call or something like that,” said Rodney Harris, 47. “The guy was standing no more than five feet away from me. He pulled a gun out of his pocket and shot once. He then shot one more time. Everyone started running.”
“He was real close to me,” Harris said. “I thought I got shot.”
Nate Robinson, a former point guard for the Knicks, was at the game but escaped unscathed, witnesses said.
— Reported by Edgar Sandoval and Sarah Armaghan of the New York Daily News
The NYPD conducts an investigation after a shooting occurred during a basketball tournament at Rucker Park on Wednesday.
Five people were shot last night at a basketball game at Harlem’s famed Rucker Park where ex-Knicks guard Nate Robinson was among those scrambling for safety during the chaos, authorities and witnesses said.
The mayhem broke loose just before 11 p.m. at the courts on West 155th Street and Eighth Avenue during the annual Entertainers Basketball Classic, which has featured numerous NBA superstars.
“All of a sudden the game stopped because an argument broke out in the stands,” said witness Rodney Harris Jr., 47, who was five feet from the melee.
— Reported by Helen Freund of the New York Post
EBC Rucker Park Shooting Video
Read fan reaction and share your opinion in this basketball forum topic
.
