2 killed, 9 injured in shooting near Empire State Building

3 hours ago

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By Andrew Mach, Shimon Prokupecz and Jonathan Dienst, NBC News

Two people were killed and nine injured in a shooting incident Friday morning outside the Empire State Building by a disgruntled ex-employee of a nearby business, officials said.
 The suspected gunman, Jeffrey Johnson, 58, who was laid off a year ago, approached a former co-worker on the street and shot him three times, killing him, NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
A construction worker who witnessed the incident followed Johnson as he walked away, Kelly said. The construction worker alerted police, who confronted Johnson. He turned his .45-caliber pistol on the officers, and was killed as they opened fire, Kelly said.
Some of those injured in the incident may have been hit by police bullets, he said, adding that the nine injured are expected to survive.

Louis Lanzano / AP

A disgruntled ex-employee opened fire Friday morning and shot 
10 people, killing one. The gunman was then shot and killed at the scene.

Kelly said Johnson was a designer of women's accessories at Hazan Imports until he was laid-off in a downsizing sometime last year.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene Friday morning on streets crowded with tourists and commuters alike.

Chris Watkins told the Wall Street Journal he saw a man running through the crowd carrying a handgun and wearing a backpack. "He was shooting toward the crowd, not toward anyone in particular," Watkins said, adding that he ran into a nearby drug store when he heard shots. He said he later saw four people lying in the intersection of 34th St. and Fifth Ave.
"I heard pop, pop, pop, pop, and I ran back into my offices,” Gloria Walker, another witness, told NBC News. "I ran, I ran, I ran."

Another witness, Darrin Deleuil, told the Wall Street Journal that he saw the shooter, wearing a suit and fedora shoot one victim point blank on 33rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue. "He looked like an old gangster," Deleuil said. "He looked real calm to me. He made sure he didn't miss him." 

The FDNY told NBC News they responded to a call about the shooting at Fifth Avenue and 34th Street at 9:07 a.m. Friday and arrived at 9:13 a.m.

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Gloria Walker describes witnessing the shooting at the Empire State Building to WNBC: "It was pandemonium."

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A shooting victim lies covered on the ground at West 33rd St. after a shooter opened fire near the Empire State Building on Friday, Aug. 24 in New York City.

.Mayor Michael Bloomberg, right, and police commissioner Ray Kelly, left, hold a press conference after a shooting outside the Empire State Building on Friday. A disgruntled former employee at a women's apparel shop shot a former co-worker outside the Empire State Building before being killed by police, officials said Friday in the first detailed account of the shooting. The shooter was identified as Jeffrey Johnson.

Bystanders and a police officer stand on Fifth Avenue to view the scene after a multiple shooting outside the Empire State Building, Friday.

Police lean over a sheet covered body on Fifth Avenue as they investigate a multiple shooting outside the Empire State Building on Friday.

A woman identified as a victim is treated at the scene of a shooting near the Empire State Building on Friday.

 

Rebecca Cox talks to media while recounting what she saw immediately following a shooting 

  

Law enforcement stands near the covered body of the suspected shooter on

 Fifth Ave. near the Empire State Building, Friday in New York City.