A gun-toting thug opened fire early Tuesday in a packed Chelsea nightclub where NFL and NBA players were partying, killing one man and injuring two others, police said.
The gunman, dressed in a white leather jacket, started spraying bullets shortly before 2:30 a.m. inside the Juliet Supper Club on W. 21st St. near 11th Ave., police said.
A 43-year-old clubgoer was shot once in the chest and once in the back, cops said. He was taken to Bellevue hospital where he died a short time later.
Another patron, 28, was shot once in the arm and once in the buttocks. He was also taken to Bellevue hospital, where he was listed in stale condition.
Some current NBA and NFL players were inside the crowded club, but they were not involved in the shooting, a police source said.
One patron who claims she was wounded in the gunfire began tweeting under the name "sexccladi" shortly before the shooting.
At 2 a.m. she described the atmosphere as festive, tweeting, "Juliet is F--ING live,"
An hour later, the same clubgoer tweeted again she had been caught in the crossfire, getting hit in the leg with a wayward bullet.
"Five people hit," she tweeted, claiming she was on her way to the hospital.
"Never clubbing again."
About an hour after the gunfire, she tweeted, "shaking, reality just set in."
She went on to ask, "How someone get in with a big gun in an elite club?"
"Sorry for tweeting, it's what's keeping me sane...not looking for attention...was making sure my people's that were in their was okay," the wounded clubgoers wrote in a final tweet.
Police sources did confirm that an unidentified 28-year-old woman later showed up at the emergency room at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, in Queens, with a gunshot wound to the leg, claiming she was shot at Club Juliete.
The shooting comes two months after a Morningside Heights man was found stabbed to death outside the doors of the Chelsea hotspot.
Club promoter Manuel "Manny Stax" Pinero, 41, was arrested two days later and charged with the murder of Christopher Adames, 23.
Police were still hunting for the gunman in Tuesday’s shooting. It's not clear what sparked the gunplay.
The club said it was cooperating with the shooting’s investigators.
"We have turned over all video surveillance and are doing all we can to aide the police with this matter," club spokeswoman Amanda Mitchell said.
She said since October the club instituted new security measures, which include both male and female security guards who search patrons belongings before entering the club.
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