l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 NEW YORK — A disgruntled worker who had just gunned down a former colleague
was fatally shot by police officers in rush hour gunfire that injured nine
bystanders outside of the Empire State Building, authorities said.
Jeffrey Johnson, 58, who had been laid off by apparel company Hazan Import
Corp. a year ago, shot a 41-year-old former co-worker three times with a
semiautomatic handgun at 10 West 33rd St. around 9 a.m., killing him, said
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
A relative identified the victim as Steven Ercolino, 41 years old, an
employee at Hazan Import Corp.
"He was an incredible family man, loved his family," said a woman who
identified herself as his sister-in-law, Andrea. Mr. Ercolino did not have
children, she said, but was the "best uncle to my children." She described
him as generous, fun loving and compassionate, and said he loved his work
selling handbags.
"He had an incredible life ahead of him," she said.
As Mr. Johnson fled east on West 33rd Street, dressed in a suit and tie with
his gun inside a black bag under his arm, a construction worker followed
him and alerted nearby police, Mr. Kelly said. He was shot dead just north
of the Empire State Building entrance, according to Mr. Kelly.
Police surrounded a body, covered by a sheet, on a Fifth Avenue sidewalk as
they investigated a multiple shooting outside the Empire State Building,
Friday.
Authorities are still investigating whether Mr. Johnson, who worked at the
company six years, fired at the officers but stressed that videotaped
footage from surveillance cameras clearly show him pointing the weapon at
the police. The bystanders were most likely struck by police bullets,
officials said.
"We have on tape the perpetrator pulled his gun out, tried to shoot at the
cops. Whether he got off any shots or not is to be determined," Mayor
Bloomberg said. "We do know that cops fired back and the tape clearly shows
the guy has the gun out and fires it at police officers."
The rush hour shooting near one of the city's most famous landmarks comes on
the heels of several other public shooting sprees, including one inside a
Colorado movie theater last month and another at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin
several weeks ago.
A law enforcement official with knowledge of the matter said Johnson bought
the Spanish manufactured .45 semiautomatic handgun legally in 1991 in
Florida, but he was not licensed to own the weapon in New York City.
The dispute between Mr. Johnson and Mr. Ercolino had escalated once before,
said an official with the building where Hazan is located. Before Mr.
Johnson was let go from Hazan, he and Mr. Ercolino engaged in a shoving
match inside an elevator, he said.
"They had a fight," said the official, who said he watched the security feed
of the incident several times, adding that it appeared Mr. Johnson shoved
first. "Steve picked that guy up by the throat and put him against the wall.
" Police could not immediately say if charges were filed in the incident.
The superintendent of Mr. Johnson's East 82nd Street building, Guillermo
Suarez, 72, described him as a lonely man who wore a brown suit every day
and rarely had visitors.
"At 8:30 a.m. every single day he goes to McDonald's, he comes back, he goes
upstairs and that's the end of that one," he said.
Mr. Suarez saw Mr. Johnson leave Friday morning. "I was standing right here.
He said, 'Good morning,'" he recalled. "I didn't see him come back. ...
When the cops called and told me this guy is the shooter, I said, 'You got
to be kidding me.'"
Neighbor Gisela Casella, 72 years old, said Mr. Johnson was a polite and
quiet man who "loved his cats."
"I would see him every morning all dressed up," she said. "I thought he went
to work everyday."
Nine wounded bystanders were taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center and
Bellevue Hospital Center for treatment. All had non-life threatening
injuries, according to a Fire Department spokesman. By Friday afternoon, two
had been discharged from Weill Cornell.
Robert Asika, 23, who sells tickets for the observation deck of the Empire
State Building, said he was struck in the arm as police officers took down
the gunman.
"One of the cops shot me in the arm, you know, and I fell," Mr. Asika said,
adding, "I mean, I guess stuff happens. I didn't feel bad about it, it just
happened you know."
Louis Lleras, 32, was visiting his sister Erica Solar, 30, whom he
identified as one of the victims of the shooting. She was being treated at
Bellevue early Friday afternoon.
Ms. Solar work as a receptionist on 37th Street, he said, and was on her way
to get a cup of coffee at Dunkin' Donuts when she heard shots. Mr. Lleras
said she took a few steps before realizing she had been shot in the back of
her left knee.
"They don't know if she was shot by the cops or the gunman," Mr. Lleras said
. "She just heard shots and fell to the ground afterwards."
"She's in good shape, she just wants to go home," he added. " The bullets
are still there. They don't know whether to take it out or leave it there."
Ms. Solar's neighbor, Christopher Collins, 44, said he was on his way to
work when he saw the mother of two bleeding on the ground with paper towels
on her leg and stayed with her until an ambulance arrived.
"You never expect to see a friend of yours bleeding on the street," he said.
"She was just nervous," he said, saying she was asking questions like, "Am
I going to lose my leg? Am I going to die?"
Auselis Rosario said her sister-in-law, Media Rosario, 43 years old, was
getting off the train and crossing the street at 34th Street and 5th Avenue
when she got shot in the back of her right leg.
She said her sister-in-law saw people running and turned around to see what
happened when she was shot. "It's crazy, you leave your kids, your family,
and you never know when you're coming back," she said.
The shooting alarmed both workers heading into the office on a clear Friday
morning as well as tourists checking out the sights in Midtown.
Witness Darrin Deleuil, 46, said he saw the shooter, wearing a suit and
fedora, shoot a man point blank on 33rd Street between Fifth and Sixth
Avenue. "He looked like an old gangster," he said. "He looked real calm to
me. He made sure he didn't miss him."
Rebecca Fox, 27, was on her way to work when she saw four people who had
been shot.
"I saw the man dead on the ground in front of the Empire State Building,
then I saw the other man down 33rd Street, the man who the shooter had been
chasing," said Ms. Fox, who works at Kick Design, a brand agency.
She described the first few minutes after the shooting as frantic, with
police running down the street and taping off the crime scene. "It was a
scene out of 'C.S.I.,'" said Ms. Fox, referencing the popular television
show. "But it was real, you know?"
Jill Greenwood, an account supervisor at Prosek Partners in the Empire State
Building, said she heard several gun shots just after 9 a.m. In the minutes
afterward, people inside the building began streaming out because an echo
from the shots made it sound like they were coming from inside the building.
"We heard these gunshots, it sounded like fireworks. So, we both got up and
went to the window and looked down," said Ms. Greenwood, a 30-year-old New
York resident.
"I got out of a cab right there five minutes before it happened," she added.
Mike Chang, 33 years old, an employee of Krux, an online data company with
offices in the Empire State Building, said he was walking off the subway
toward the building at around 9 a.m. when he saw people running toward him
yelling "gun."
"Then I saw Empire State Building employees running toward me and I thought
it was real," Mr. Chang said.
He walked around the building to the 34th Street entrance and went in and up
to his offices on the 42nd floor. "I thought it would be safer in the
office than on the street," he said.
A spokeswoman for the Empire State Building Company said that the building
is fully operational while the NYPD investigates the incident. | A*****a
发帖数: 52743 | 2 跟警察对攻
colleague
nine
with
as
shows
on
Wisconsin
bought
,
feed
wall.
goes
here.
went
two
,
just
way
of
said
towels
said.
Am
Avenue
what
Friday
been
State
minutes
building.
and
added.
thought
up
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: NEW YORK — A disgruntled worker who had just gunned down a former colleague
: was fatally shot by police officers in rush hour gunfire that injured nine
: bystanders outside of the Empire State Building, authorities said.
: Jeffrey Johnson, 58, who had been laid off by apparel company Hazan Import
: Corp. a year ago, shot a 41-year-old former co-worker three times with a
: semiautomatic handgun at 10 West 33rd St. around 9 a.m., killing him, said
: Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
: A relative identified the victim as Steven Ercolino, 41 years old, an
: employee at Hazan Import Corp.
: "He was an incredible family man, loved his family," said a woman who
| l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 3 gee, how can that happen? Thought guns are banned in NY
【在 A*****a 的大作中提到】
: 跟警察对攻
:
: colleague
: nine
: with
: as
: shows
: on
: Wisconsin
: bought
|
|
