According to The Guardian, the New York Police Department received an emergency call around 11 p.m. concerning the baby at West 44th Street and Seventh Avenue. The child was conscious and alert inside the stroller and was transported to an area hospital. Detectives are now searching for the father by pulling surveillance footage and canvassing locals with a picture of the child to retrace his steps, as the father frequents the Times Square area.
According to The Guardian, under New York state law, a parent who is unable or unwilling to care for an infant younger than 30 days old is allowed to give them up if they take proper measures and ensure the child’s safety. The law, enacted in 2000, says a parent is not guilty of a crime if the baby is left with an appropriate person or in a safe location such as a police precinct, hospital, or firehouse. If the child is older than 30 days, a parent is supposed to contact the administration for children’s services field office. It remains unclear why the father left the baby in Times Square or whether he will face charges under New York law, and the exact timeline of events leading to the baby being found has not been disclosed.
This incident follows other recent cases of violence involving infants in the U.S. According to The Guardian, a seven-month-old baby girl, Kaori Patterson-Moore, was fatally shot during a gang-related shootout in Brooklyn earlier this month. She was shot on April 1 when two men on a motorcycle riding against the flow of traffic through the Williamsburg neighborhood and the man riding pillion took out a gun and fired. Amuri Greene, 21, has been charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder and has pleaded not guilty. Matthew Rodriguez, 18, the driver of the bike, was charged with murder in connection with the killing.
In a separate tragedy, over the weekend, eight children, aged three to 11, were killed in a mass shooting in Louisiana. Shamar Elkins, the father of seven of the victims, went on an early-morning rampage with a pistol that authorities described as an “execution-style” attack. Elkins, 31, a former member of the Louisiana National Guard, was shot dead by police after fleeing the scene. The two mothers of the seven children were also badly injured. This was the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. this year.