Nine people shot in New York City just five hours into 2013

Gun-firing.Washington, Janc 2 : Nine people have been shot in the New York City since the city welcomed in 2013, police said.

Gunfire first erupted at around 2 a. m., when two people were hit with bullets in separate incidents.

In the first shooting, a 32-year-old man was hit in the stomach and taken to Jacobi Hospital, cops said. He is in stable condition.

According to the New York Post, cops added that in the second incidence of gunplay, a 19-year-old boy was shot in the back in Bushwick, Brooklyn. He was rushed to Wyckoff Hospital in stable condition.

Police said that at around 3 a. m. a 24-year-old man was popped in the buttocks after a fight broke out between a large group near Jerome Avenue and West Fordham Road in the Bronx.

He was taken to Columbia University Medical Center. Cops said that the investigation is ongoing, though the victim has been uncooperative with investigation.

At 4:30 a. m., a man was shot in both legs at the Queensbridge Houses in Astoria, Queens, cops said. He was taken by private car to New York Hospital Queens and has non-life threatening injuries.

On Staten Island, a 42-year-old man was blasted in the stomach on Osgood Avenue at about 4:45 a. m., cops added. His brother picked him up, but he was later loaded into an ambulance and driven to Richmond University Medical Center.

Cops added that the victim was highly intoxicated and refused to help investigators.

At about 5 a. m., a woman was shot at the arm on Webster Avenue, in the Butler Houses, in the Bronx, cops said. She was taken to Lincoln Hospital for treatment.

Just before 6 a. m., a man who had been shot in the stomach was dropped off at Kings County Hospital, cops added. He was in critical condition and expected to undergo emergency surgery.

Finally, there were two shootings around 7 a. m. in different boroughs.

A man was shot on East 138th Street and Brook Avenue in the Bronx, cops said. He was brought to Lincoln Hospital and is said to be in a stable condition.

Cops said that another man was plugged in the stomach on Dumont Avenue in the Van Dyke Houses in Brownsville. He was taken to Brookdale Hospital and is expected to live.

The spike in gun violence comes as the city just recorded its lowest number of shooting incidents ever.

As of December 30, there were 1,372 shootings citywide in 2012, a marked drop from the 1,420 incidents notched in 2009, which was the previous record low since the NYPD began keeping a tally in 1994, the report added. (ANI)