Gunman opens fire on busy Harlem street, wounding man, innocent woman selling handbags

Two people were shot on a Manhattan street Tuesday — one of them a grandmother who worked as a street vendor and got caught in the crossfire — according to police and the woman’s family.

The chaos began on W. 125th St. near Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. in Harlem when a 20-year-old man and three other people got into an argument, cops and witnesses told the Daily News.

The people walked away from the fight but came back around 3:25 p.m. with at least one gun, a witness said.

They recklessly fired off shots around 3:25 p.m. in the bustling shopping district, just paces away from the Apollo Theater.

The 20-year-old man was shot once in the right leg.

Anta Diaw, 48, who was not involved in the argument and was selling bags and other accessories on the block, was shot once in the left leg.

A street vendor who sells homeopathic remedies heard four shots.

“I look over and there were two people on the ground,” said John Blyden, 74. “She was leaning against the door of the store and the guy was lying against the bus stop. It was crazy.”

Diaw moved to the states from Senegal to bring in more money for her family, her rattled son told the Daily News.

“She called my dad and said she was shot,” said the son, Omar Gaye. “I was shocked. This is bad.”

The man and woman were taken to St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital and Harlem Hospital, respectively, where they were both expected to recover.

“She’s a good mother,” said Gaye, 19. “She was shot in the leg and now she can’t work.”

Diaw had recently moved her setup to the side of the street where she was shot.

“There is no escape from these things,” Blyden said. “It can happen to anyone, anywhere.”

Police are still searching for the shooter.

“These are criminal people,” Gaye said. “We have to stop gun violence.”