FDNY has confirmed to Business Insider that 11 people have been shot or injured. Of those 11, five have minor injuries and four have non-urgent injuries.
Two, including the gunman, are dead.
The shooting was allegedly the result of a fight between co-workers, The New York Post reported.
A relative confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that the victim was 41-year-old Steven Ercolino.
Ercolino worked as a vice president of sales at Hazan Import Corp, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly identified the shooter as Jeffrey Johnson, a former designer of women's accessories for Hazan Imports.
Hazan Imports refused to comment about Johnson when contacted by Business Insider.
"He was an incredible family man, loved his family," Ercolino's sister-in-law Andrea told the Journal about the victim.
A former coworker told Women's Wear Daily Ercolino was "a great salesman who knew his craft," adding "customers loved him."
Ercolino at one point had an order of protection against Johnson, the New York Times tweeted, citing Ercolino's co-worker.
NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a press conference a man who had been fired from his job about a year ago began shooting near the Empire State Building.?
NY Scanner, an unofficial Twitter account that reports on crimes in the city, tweeted the suspect was fired from his job some time prior to the shooting.
Johnson blamed Ercolino for his firing, The New York Times tweeted, adding Johnson felt Ercolino "didn?t sell Johnson?s T-shirts hard enough."
"This is a terrible tragedy," Bloomberg said, adding that a number of civilians helped police contain the situation.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said police "trapped and killed" Johnson at 10 West 33rd St.
Watch: Mayor Bloomberg's Press Conference |
Following the initial shooting, Johnson opened fire on NYPD officers and was then killed, Bloomberg said during his press conference.
However, law enforcement officials have now said Johnson didn't actually fire his weapon at police, The New York Times reported.
"One law enforcement official said that based on the preliminary investigation, it appears that most or all of the bystanders were struck by one of the 16 police bullets ? or fragments or ricochets from those rounds ? that were fired by the two officers who confronted Mr. Johnson," The New York Times reported Friday afternoon.
The gunman tried to enter the building Friday morning but was turned away by security guards, NBC New York reported.
"He then waited for his boss outside the building, apparently to target the boss in a revenge attack," sources told NBC New York, adding that the gunman and the boss had been "having problems for several weeks."
Detectives told the Times they believe Johnson fired five shots at Ercolino.
Johnson carried a gun with eight bullets and a knife at the time of the shooting, Reuters' Matthew Keys tweeted, citing WNBC.
Police also found an additional magazine with eight bullets.
The New York Daily News has published a photo of the gunman after he was killed by police. Warning, it's graphic.
Bloomberg said at his press conference he doesn't believe Johnson has a criminal record but the investigation is still in its early stages.A witness to the shooting told the New York Times Metro Desk that Johnson was hiding behind a truck before he shot Ercolino. He then "drew closer, fired again," the Times tweeted.
Johnson was 53 at the time of the shooting. Two women and seven men were injured in the shooting. Everyone injured in the shooting was "just grazed," Bloomberg said, stressing the fact that those injured are expected to survive.?
Police on their regular patrol of the Empire State Building followed Johnson after the shooting. A construction worker in the area also followed Johnson.
"He did what he should have done," Bloomberg said of the construction worker.
That construction worker, 23-year-old Chris Ogden, was working on a scaffold on the building when he saw the gunman entered the building wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase before opening fire, Ogden told the New York Daily News
?He shot the guy in the head,? Ogden told the Daily News. ?The guy went down. He took a second shot when he was down.?
The shooter then "?walked down the block, like nothing was happening, real casual. We were screaming from the top, ?It?s the guy in the grey suit!?? Ogden told the Daily News.
Bloomberg said he believes only one weapon was used in the incident.
Johnson, who lived in Manhattan, was caught on surveillance video pulling his gun out and trying to shoot at the officers before he was killed.
Law enforcement said as far as they know there was no connection to the Empire State Building other than the fact the shooting happened outside near the building, adding it's "much too early" to know many details.
Hazan Import Corp. is located at 10 W. 33rd St. It's a private company that specializes in wholesale handbags. Manta, a small-business directory, says the company was established in 1975.
Bloomberg did assure reporters there isn't a connection to terrorism.
Victims have been taken to Bellevue and Cornell hospitals. Seven victims have been taken to Bellevue and three were taken to Cornell.
Four women and five men were injured in the shooting, according to Keys.
Watch: Empire State Building Shooting Report |
Anika Basu, 23, was on the M34 bus and stopped at a stoplight in front of the Empire State Building when gunfire erupted this morning.
"We all heard like a ton of gunshots go off and looked to the left," she exclusively told Business Insider.
Basu said she saw three people fall on the sidewalk on the side of the building. She didn't see the shooter.
"There was three people down, there was mass chaos," she said, adding that Fifth Avenue is "completely out of control."
Of those three victims, Basu said one was one of the men who sells tourists passes to go to the top of the building.
"We didn't see the shooter, we didn't see anyone, we just saw the victims," she said.
Twitter user @mr_mookie has tweeted a picture of one of the victims. Warning, it's graphic.
Basu eventually got off the bus and walked out of the area, saying she was nervous she might also get shot.
Business Insider's Julia LaRoche is on the scene. She has tweeted this picture of the bystander who was shot. Warning, it's graphic.
A doorman told LaRoche the bystander who was shot was a "really nice" person who always said hello. He worked in the area.
Aliyah Imam told Fox 5 News that a woman standing next to her fell the ground outside the Empire State Building.
The gunman was "shooting indiscriminately at people," Imam said (via CBS News.)
An eyewitness told WNBC that people were shot in "two different locations on two different blocks of Fifth Avenue near Empire State Building," Keys tweeted.
Sarah Maslin Nir, a reporter for The New York Times', tweeted that she spoke with one of the victim's brothers. The man, who was shot, was a tourist guide who was working on the street near the Empire State Building. He was also in college, according to Nir.
An eyewitness tweeted this picture of FDNY responding to the scene.
The Empire State Building is one of the most famous skyscrapers in the world, and one of New York City's best-known tourist attractions. Each year, about 4 million people visit the building's two observation decks. At more than 1,453 feet tall, the landmark building reaches more than a quarter-mile into the sky.
Additional reporting by Michael Kelley, Eric Platt, and Julia LaRoche.
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Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/three-people-reportedly-shot-outside-the-empire-state-building-2012-8
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