Shots Fired at Broome and Eldridge This Morning [Updated]

Whether or not the oft-romanticized “bad old days” are in fact making a Lower East Side comeback remains to be seen. But what we can say for sure is that there’s definitely a noticeable uptick in crime around these parts within the last few weeks. Between the cop shooting at the Seward Park Extension and the slashing outside Famous Hakki Pizza on Essex Street early yesterday morning, neighbors are definitely on edge.

But there’s more. Boogie reader JL sent along a blurry picture from roughly 4:30 am this morning with the caption “shots fired on Broome Street.” Below is a bit more from his dispatch:

Shots fired on Broome St. last night on the corner of Broome and Eldridge at 4:30AM this morning. A Chinese guy here is arrested [lying on the sidewalk] but wasn’t shot, don’t know if the cops fired the shots but I believe they did. They may have been warning shots. People ran away screaming. And one guy yelled to the cops “go ahead and shoot me. you wanna shoot me?”

UPDATE: According to neighbors who witnessed some of it, the Chinese guy was fighting with a group of young Latinos.  The cops had all ready been called, and when the fight escalated the Chinese man allegedly fired shots not knowing the cops had just arrived on the scene. He was immediately arrested.

Drop us a line if you have more info, or if you heard the situation go down.