Details are unfolding about the Empire State Building today and the disgruntled employee who took it upon himself to kill his former boss on the busy street.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has identified the shooter as Jeffery Johnson, 58, and according to NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, he worked as a women's accessories designer for Hazan Imports Corporation.
Johnson lost his job a year ago due to downsizing at the company. Allegedly Johson tracked down his former boss, Steve Ercolino, down the street and shot him.
Hazan Imports which has 50 to 100 employees according to its company profile on ZoomInfo, is located on 10 West 33 street, close to the Empire State Building.
The shooting happened at approximately 9:00 a.m. Friday morning causing a chaotic scene with police in front of the Empire State Building. Police killed the suspect and at least nine other individuals were wounded, some possibly by police shots, city officials have said.
Sidewalks were bustling with people at 9 a.m. on their way to work and visiting the famous landmark. Marc Engel said to ABC news, "People were yelling 'Get down! Get down! It took about 15 seconds, a lot of 'pop, pop, pop, pop, one shot after the other." Engel is an accountant who was on a bus in the area when he heard the shots.
After the shots were fired, he said he saw the sidewalks covered with wounded individuals. Police shut down 34th street and officers and swarms of onlookers gathered around the site.
Johnson, who was laid off about a year ago from Hazan imports, fired three times at the 41 year old office manager, Steve Ercolino, shooting him in the head. Raymond Kelly, the Police Commissioner said that Ercolino and Johnson had both accused each other of harassment during their time working at Hazan together.
Johson walked away after shooting Ercolino and a construction worker who saw the shooting alerted police. According to surveillance footage, Johnson took out a .45 caliber pistol and pointed it at officers at which time, officers started firing and killed Johnson.
Two officers on duty fired a total of 14 rounds and Johnson's semi-automatic was equipped to fire at least eight rounds and at least one round was left in his clip.
"This was a terrible tragedy," Mayor Bloomberg said during a press conference. "We are not immune to the national problem of gun violence."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
