Chelsea School Takes Shelter After Covid Vax Bus Shooting: Officials

CHELSEA, NY — A Chelsea school was briefly put on lockdown Thursday after gunshots rang out near the campus and hit a nearby COVID-19 vaccination bus, officials told Patch.

Three people are in custody after the shooting near the Bayard Rustin Educational Complex at West 18th Street and Ninth Avenue about 2:10 p.m., according to police.

No injuries were reported as of 3:30 p.m. and no one in the vaccination bus was hurt, according to the NYPD.

The lockdown at the 351 W. 18th Street campus — which includes the High School for Humanities and the West Hudson High School of Learning Technology — was changed to a shelter-in-place about 3 p.m., a Department of Education spokesperson told Patch.

High School for Humanities Principal Jeannie Ferrari did not immediately answer Patch's request for comment.

Lower Manhattan Council Member Erik Bottcher placed the gunshots to the NYCHA Fulton Houses and said in a tweet, "This cannot continue."

The Lower Manhattan school lockdown comes a week after a tragic shooting at a Texas elementary school shook the nation.

There was no evidence connecting the shooting to the school, but the issue of gun violence is among top priorities for Mayor Eric Adams, who has pledged to tackle a dramatic increase in guns and other weapons confiscated in New York City public schools.

Just hours before the shooting, Adams announced the beginning of Gun Violence Awareness Month in New York City.

Said Adams, "We won’t stop fighting until we’ve ended this epidemic."