Kansas Tourist Near Times Square Struck by Stray Bullet: ‘I'm Just Ready to Go Home’

A tourist from Kansas was shot by a stray bullet near New York City's Time Square on Wednesday.

The man, Chris Ruby, was walking home just after 2 a.m. when he was stuck, according to the Associated Press. He was not the intended target of the gunshot, the New York Police Department told the outlet.

Ruby, 44, was on his way back to his New York hotel after he watched Tuesday night's Mets-Phillies game in Philadelphia when he was shot, he told ABC7. The tourist has a life goal of seeing a baseball game at every stadium in the U.S.

The Kansas native told the outlet he saw the suspect point a gun to "the side" of him and aimed at someone else. "It looked like it was going this way, but when he pulled the trigger, I felt this bad pain in my shoulder."

At first, Ruby couldn't locate where the pain was coming from until he went into a smoke shop and took off his jacket. "I took off my jacket, and there was blood everywhere. It was really bad," he told the outlet.

The smoke shop worker told NY Daily News, "He came inside to my store. He didn't really say much. He just said he got shot and to call the ambulance."

"Once he took the jacket off, that's when I called the ambulance," the worker said, admitting he didn't believe the tourist had been shot at first. "I feel bad for [him] because he was walking like a regular person, was not expecting that was gonna happen."

Ruby was transported to Bellevue Hospital for care.

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"I was having such a great time until this happened," he told ABC7.  "All those New York souvenirs I have, I don't want to look at them."

The tourist added, "I'm just ready to go home. I was in the hospital for five hours and then the police station for two or three."

The NYPD revealed in a statement later on Wednesday that they arrested 21-year-old Brannovan Martinez and was charged with assault, criminal use of a firearm and reckless endangerment for allegedly shooting Ruby.

Martinez has not yet entered a plea and a lawyer to comment on his behalf could not be immediately located.

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