CD Peddler Shoots, Is Shot Dead at Marriott Marquis (Updated)

People are frequently shot in New York, but in this instance the victim was allegedly a peddler with a gun, he was shot by cops, and this all took place in the guest drop-off zone of the Marriott Marquis, site of a Broadway theater (White Christmas is playing there) and near the epicenter of Times Square tourist traffic. The man was selling CDs, and at 11:18 a.m., police remonstrated with him, whereupon he pulled a Tec-9 Mac-10. After a few rounds, police shot him in the torso, and he was taken to the hospital, where he died. He was 25 years old; no name yet. Cops also picked up the peddler's brother at the scene for interfering.

The Post talks to a friend of the deceased. "He has a great personality," said "Mike Williams," "and if he did shoot at a cop I don't condone that."

Update: NYPD says the peddler's racket was actually intimidation of tourists: He'd ask for a vic's name, then write it on a CD and demand $10 for it. (We thought those days were over.)

On the perp's person was a business card for a gun seller, on the back of which someone had written, "I just finished watching 'The Last Dragon.' I feel sorry for a cop if he think I'm getting into his paddy wagon." The Times has the best of the many tourist reactions which have enlivened this story: Emer Rooney of Ireland said "the shooting, in fact, as one of the more exciting moments of her trip."

Update 2: Raymond Martinez, the deceased's name was; 25, of Franklin Avenue, The Bronx. "There's an element of coercion and intimidation employed by these peddlers," says an NYPD spokesman. Maybe the old days are coming back.