A horse used by the NYPD's Mounted Unit got spooked by a noise in Times Square last night and knocked off the cop who was riding it. The horse then galloped through the crowded Midtown streets, hitting a few cars along the way.

Gunny the horse and his officer were on 48th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues when a "sudden sound from a truck that was being unloaded nearby" startled him. According to the NY Times, "The officer, still connected to the horse through his stirrup, was dragged on the ground before managing to get himself loose, the police said."

There's an escaped police horse running AGAINST TRAFFIC in Times Square and it's fucking insane!! — Mike Scollins (@mikescollins) March 3, 2016

Gunny galloped down 48th Street and took a right onto Sixth Avenue. Cab driver Kareem Khalil's side mirror was knocked off by the horse, and Khalil said to NBC New York, "It looked like some mad horse. Some people were screaming, but thank God nobody got hurt."

Gunny then headed onto 47th Street and ended up stopped at a haven of sorts: The parking garage where the Mounted Unit takes breaks. A witness told WABC 7, "He went right up to another horse, it was weird."



Both Gunny and the officer have minor injuries.

The Mounted Unit horses are known as "10-foot cops," and former Police Commissioner Ray Kelly explained that they are extremely effective, "You can see them from blocks away, they're great at crowd control and they're probably the most photographed piece of equipment we have." Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is trying to get carriage horses limited, if not completely banned because they have been spooked by traffic, has said that NYPD horses are "completely different" from carriage horses.