One Dead And Three Hurt In NYC Gig Shooting

One person has died and three others have been wounded after a gunman opened fire at a concert near Manhattan's Union Square in New York City.

Footage from inside the music hall showed chaotic scenes as hundreds of concertgoers rushed towards the exits as a group of people tended to someone on the floor.

Witnesses described frantic scenes following the attack, which they said appeared to have happened after an argument.

One witness, 19-year-old Live Hoffman, said: "The girl next to me was shot point blank, and men picked her up and carried her out.

"For two to three minutes we still heard firing, still heard shots. We were clutching each other making sure no one was getting hit."

"I ran out, just trying to look for my friends, just trying to see if everyone was OK. Everyone was hysterical."

Another witness said: "We saw two people up in the VIP area arguing.

"Everybody started running because they heard the shots ... we kept running with everybody else because they were running for their lives. I fell and got stomped on."

The shooting happened in third-floor green room area at about 10.15pm local time (3.15am UK time) at Irving Plaza police said.

A 34-year-old man who was shot in the chest and a 33-year-old man who was shot in the stomach were taken to hospital in a critical condition, but one of them died of their injuries.

Police said a 26-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man were both shot in the leg and were expected to survive.

Hip-hop artist T.I. was due to perform at the venue where the attack happened.

Concergoer Elijah Rodriguez was in the VIP area by the stage and said that T.I. was expected to go on at 9pm or 9.30pm, but "never showed up."

Manhattan Chief of Detectives William Aubry said T.I. was in the building, but performers Maino and Uncle Murda were on stage at the time of the shooting.

Representatives for T.I., whose real name is Clifford Joseph Harris Jr, are referring all questions to the authorities.

The New York Police Department has responded with a massive mobilisation, but no arrests have been made so far.

"Scene safe at this time. Please stay clear of area," the force said on Twitter.