A seven-month-old girl was shot and killed while sitting in her pushchair in “broad daylight” in New York City, police have said.

Police believe the baby was the unintended victim of a suspected gang-related shooting.

Footage from the scene shows two men driving against the flow of traffic through the Williamsburg neighbourhood of Brooklyn when a man sitting on the back of the motorbike takes out a gun and fires “at least two rounds”, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told a news conference.

The bike then crashed and the suspected shooter was apprehended, but a “massive” manhunt was under way for the driver, she said.

“A life that had barely begun was taken in an instant,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.

“Today is a devastating reminder of how much more work there is to be done to combat gun violence across this city.”

Several adults and children, two of whom were in buggies, had been on a street corner when the shooting occurred on Wednesday.

The seven-month-old’s parents ran for cover in a nearby shop, where they realised their child had been shot, the BBC’s US partner CBS reported.

“All the kids started ducking in the corner. The family went to the store and the mom started screaming when she noticed the baby was bleeding from [her] head,” witness Bernius Maldonado told CBS.

Footage from inside the shop, published by the New York Post, shows the moment the child’s mother is about to pick up the infant and notices the injuries.

The mother then becomes hysterical, and starts jumping up and down with her hands clasped behind her head.

Emergency services were called at 13:21 local time (17:21 GMT).

The child was taken to nearby Woodhull Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Police reported no other people killed or injured in the incident.

“As a mother, I cannot imagine the pain that this family is feeling or the grief that they now carry with them,” Tisch said. “It is unspeakable.”

Footage seen by police showed the suspects crashing into a car shortly after fleeing the scene.

Both suspects were thrown from the moped – but the rear passenger landed so hard he lost “both of his shoes”, Tisch said.

An ambulance was called for the injured man who was brought to Brooklyn Hospital, where he was then taken into police custody.

Investigators say they believe he fits the description of the shooter, based on the clothing he was wearing and his appearance, but he was taken into custody as part of an unrelated investigation.

No one has been charged in connection to the shooting. (BBC, excluding headline)

•PHOTO: Police believe they have apprehended the shooter while the driver (right) remains at large