Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Gun Jammed Because Times Square Shooter Held It Wrong
By
Ben Muessig
Published Dec 12, 2009
Modified Dec 12, 2009
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ben Muessig
Published Dec 12, 2009
Modified Dec 12, 2009
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The rapper and CD peddler who was shot and killed by police after opening fire on an officer in Times Square on Thursday could have unloaded as many as 27 more shots if he had been holding his gun correctly.
After fleeing from plainclothes Sgt. Christopher Newsom when confronted about a CD-selling scam, Raymond "Ready" Martinez opened fire at the officer with an imitation MAC-10 — but in an ode to gangster movies and music videos, he held it sideways. According to the Post, when Martinez held the gun parallel to the ground, it caused the shells to "stovepipe," jamming the gun as the spent casings got stuck vertically in the chamber. Newsom, who escaped unscathed, shot Martinez three times and grazed him with a fourth round.
Just two days after the shooting, Newsom — a father of four who lives in Queens and had never before fired his gun in the line of duty — told the Post he was eager to return to his beat. "I'm doing good. I'm just going through department procedure and I want to get back to work," he said. Meanwhile Martinez's mother, Anna Martinez, insists that her son was a musician, not a criminal. "He likes his music, and he likes his lyrics," she told the Daily News. "He knows God. He is a man of God. We studied the Bible together all the time as a family…He had been in trouble before, yes, but for selling CDs…He was not selling drugs or anything like that. He was just into his music."
And according to the tabloid, in the aftermath of the shooting, CD and DVD sellers — who apparently were scamming tourists by scribbling their names on discs and demanding money — have not yet returned to Times Square.
Tagged
gun
jam
MAC-10
nypd
raymond "ready" martinez
Raymond Martinez
sgt. christopher newsom
shooting
Times Square
violence
Ben Muessig
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .