New York’s police chief has confirmed today that all nine people injured in Friday’s Empire State Building shooting were hurt as a result of police fire.
During the incident, which was captured by surveillance cameras, police officers shot dead a gunman who had just killed a former work colleague.
Commissioner Ray Kelly said bystanders had been hit by bullets or fragments of bullets striking objects.
They suffered minor injuries and all are expected to survive.
New York's police chief has confirmed today that all nine people injured in Friday's Empire State Building shooting were hurt as a result of police fire
Detectives are still trying to establish what drove the gunman, t-shirt designer Jeffrey Johnson, to ambush Steven Ercolino, vice-president of a clothing firm.
According to police, Jeffrey Johnson hid behind a car and killed Steven Ercolino with five shots as he arrived for work in Manhattan soon after 09:00 a.m.
“It appears that all nine of the victims were struck either by fragments or by bullets fired by police,” said Commissioner Ray Kelly.
Video released by police shows the moment when officers challenge Jeffrey Johnson and open fire as he appears to draw a gun in a busy street.
“We have on tape the perpetrator pulled his gun out and tried to shoot at the cops,” NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg said earlier.
“Whether he got off any bullets or not [is] to be determined.”
Jeffrey Johnson lost his job last year and is believed to have held a grudge against Steven Ercolino.
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The first picture of Jeffrey Johnson, the man who shot his former boss to death in broad daylight near the Empire State Building and whose death at the hands of police was captured in shocking video footage, has emerged to media.
Jeffrey Johnson, 58, can be seen in the graphic footage wearing a smart grey suit and carrying a briefcase as members of the public run for cover after he shot his 41-year-old ex-boss Steven Ercolino.
Suddenly, Jeffrey Johnson appears to be hit presumably by police gunfire and drops to his knees before falling flat on his face on the sidewalk outside the iconic skyscraper.
At around 9:00 a.m. yesterday morning, the disgruntled employee hid behind a car and then pulled out a .45-caliber pistol in his ex-boss and fired at his head. After Steven Ercolino fell to the ground, Jeffrey Johnson stood over him and shot four more times, a witness told investigators.
The incident sparked early-morning chaos and multiple other injuries near the Empire State Building this morning.
However, Jeffrey Johnson, was scuppered in his plans to escape after a construction worker saw the killing, chased him down the street and alerted police, who shot the gunman dead.
In the rush-hour ruckus, nine passersby were injured. Two people – the gunman and his former boss – were killed.
Jeffrey Johnson shot his former boss to death in broad daylight near the Empire State Building
The deadly dispute horrified tourists and workers swarming around 34th street and Fifth Avenue, a sight-seeing area that is experiencing its busiest few weeks of the year.
Jeffrey Johnson had visited clothing retailers Hazan Imports, where he had been an accessories designer for six years before he was fired when it downsized last year.
He was dressed in a smart grey suit and was carrying a briefcase, the New York Daily News reported.
In security camera footage released by the police, Jeffrey Johnson can be seen walking calmly down the sidewalk after the shooting, distancing himself slightly from the other pedestrians, who appear to have no awareness that anything is wrong.
But he was followed a block north by a construction worker who had witnessed the deadly shooting and alerted two police officers on duty outside the Empire State Building.
When the two police officers approached in a hurry, Jeffrey Johnson turned and pulled a handgun from a bag, his arm cocked as if to fire.
The officers, who had been standing nearly close enough to shake hands with Johnson and had no opportunity to take cover, fired almost immediately.
“He tried to shoot at the cops,” said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Nine bystanders were wounded in the 16-shot volley, likely by stray or ricocheting police bullets. None of their injuries was life-threatening, police said. The seven men and two women were whisked away to nearby hospitals, where some are undergoing surgery.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the officers who confronted Jeffrey Johnson had “a gun right in their face” and “responded quickly, and they responded appropriately”.
“These officers, having looked at the tape myself, had absolutely no choice,” he said.
A witness had told police that Jeffrey Johnson fired at the officers, but authorities say ballistics evidence doesn’t support that. Jeffrey Johnson’s gun held seven rounds, they said. He fired five times at Steven Ercolino, one round was still in the gun and one was ejected when officers secured it, authorities said.
Jeffrey Johnson was struck at least seven times, of which police said some may have been exit wounds.
When asked if the construction worker was the hero, Mayor Michael Bloomberg responded: “He did what he should have done. When he saw something, he said something and then turned it over to the professionals.”
Jeffrey Johnson legally bought the gun in Sarasota, Florida, in 1991, but he didn’t have a permit to possess it in New York City, authorities said. Early reports did not indicate he had a criminal record.
The victim, Steven Ercolino, was vice president of sales at Hazan Imports and had worked with the company for nearly seven years, according to his LinkedIn page.
Police investigating Jeffrey Johnson’s killing of Steven Ercolino were eyeing bad blood between them from when they worked together at Hazan Import, a garment district business where Ercolino was a vice president of sales.
Jeffrey Johnson and Steven Ercolino had traded harassment accusations when they worked together, police said, and when Johnson was laid off from the company a year ago he blamed Ercolino, saying he hadn’t aggressively marketed his new T-shirt line.
He has been described as a gregarious salesman, beloved by his nieces and nephews as the fun uncle who could talk with equal expertise about the New York Jets and the women’s fashion accessories he sold.
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Jeffrey Johnson has been identified as the gunman responsible of this morning Empire State Building shooting.
Jeffrey Johnson, 53, a disgruntled employee, returned to his former workplace and fatally shot his ex-boss three times in the head, sparking early-morning chaos and multiple other injuries near the Empire State Building.
But he was scuppered in his plans to escape after a construction worker saw the killing, chased him down the street and alerted police, who shot the gunman dead.
In the rush-hour ruckus, nine passersby were injured, including four who suffered gunshot wounds. Two people – the gunman and his former boss – were killed.
The deadly dispute horrified tourists and workers swarming the area around 34th street and Fifth Avenue which, at the height of summer, is experiencing its busiest few weeks.
Jeffrey Johnson had visited clothing retailers Hazan Imports, where he had been an accessories designer before he was fired as it downsized last year, on 33rd Street and Fifth Avenue at 9:00 a.m.
He was dressed in a smart grey suit and was carrying a briefcase, the New York Daily News reported.
Jeffrey Johnson returned to his former workplace and fatally shot his ex-boss three times in the head, sparking early-morning chaos and multiple other injuries near the Empire State Building
After his former boss, identified as 41-year-old Steven Ercolino, came out into the street to talk with him, Jeffrey Johnson shot him three times in the head and ran from the scene with his .45 caliber handgun hidden in a bag under his arm.
But he was followed a block north by a construction worker who had witnessed the deadly shooting and alerted two police officers on duty outside the Empire State Building.
When the gunman pulled out his firearm and aimed at them, they shot him dead.
During the gunfire, four people were shot and a total of nine people were injured. The seven men and two women were whisked away to nearby hospitals, where some are undergoing surgery.
In a press conference near the scene, Commissioner Ray Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg said some of the nine people who were injured may have been hit or grazed by police gunfire.
The two officers fired a total of 14 rounds, AP reported. Jeffrey Johnson’s semi-automatic weapon was equipped to fire at least eight rounds; at least one round was left in the clip, police said.
It is “not likely” any of the victims will die, Commissioner Ray Kelly said. None are children or elderly.
When asked if the construction worker was the hero, Mayor Michael Bloomberg responded: “He did what he should have done. When he saw something, he said something and then turned it over to the professionals.”
Ray Kelly and Michael Bloomberg added that it was too early to say if Jeffrey Johnson was legally permitted to be carrying a gun, but early reports did not indicate he had a criminal record.
Witnesses recounted the chaotic scene during rush hour in an built-up area swarming with workers and tourists.
“The gunshots were like a movie scene, everybody running in every direction and you can hear the gunshots everywhere not knowing where to run,” witness Suzy El Ayoubi said on Twitter.
Aliyah Imam told Fox 5 News that she was standing at a red light when a woman next to her fell to the ground after being hit in the hip. She claimed the gunman was “shooting indiscriminately at people”.
Witness Kay Hudson, who said she was three feet away when a man was shot, said she heard seven shots then saw a man carrying an orange helmet lying on the ground.
Kay Hudson said she began shouting for people to run and started fleeing down 33rd Street.
Jill Greenwood, who works as an account supervisor at Prosek Partners in the Empire State Building, told the Wall Street Journal that she heard several gun shots beginning at 9:04 a.m.
She said that people inside the building began yelling because an echo from the shots made it sound like the shooting was happening inside the building.
“We heard these gunshots, it sounded like fireworks. So, we both got up and went to the window and looked down,” Jill Greenwood, 30, told the WSJ.
Helicopter footage apparently showed the gunman lying on a stretcher in handcuffs, before officers placed a white sheet over his body.
A fire department spokesman said it received a call about the shooting just after at 9:00 a.m. and that emergency units were on the scene within minutes. The FBI confirmed it was not terror related.
“What I want to do is assure everybody this is nothing to do with terrorism,” Michael Bloomberg said at the press conference.
“Thank God nobody else was seriously injured. Again, there’s an awful lot of guns out there,” the mayor, a staunch advocate of stricter gun laws, added.
Coincidentally, just minutes before the shooting, Michael Bloomberg had warned about the dangers of “too many guns on the streets” on his weekly radio show.
While discussing proposed tougher gun laws in Albany shortly before 9:00 a.m., he said: “The argument guns don’t kill people, people kill people is one of the most disingenuous things you can say.”
“It does take a person to pull the trigger, but if they didn’t have the gun… We are the only developed country in the world with this problem,” the mayor continued.
