Empire State Building shooting leaves 2 dead, officials say

Nine people were shot during a gunfight between police and a murder suspect Friday morning near the Empire State Building, moments after the suspect fatally shot a former co-worker, police and city officials said. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said some victims may have been shot accidentally by responding police officers. The eight shot were either wounded or grazed and not likely to die, he said. NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly identified the shooter as Jeff Johnson, 53, a former designer of women's accessories at Hazan Imports Corp., of 10 W. 33rd St., where he had been laid off about a year ago. Police identified the victim only as a 41-year-old former co-worker. Johnson, who appears to have no criminal record, was armed with a .45-caliber handgun, that had a magazine with eight bullets, officials said. The suspect pulled the gun from a black bag and shot the victim once in the head in front of 10 W. 33rd St., Kelly said. He said the gunman was followed from the initial scene by a construction worker, who then alerted NYPD officers on anti-terrorism patrol outside the Empire State Building. Bloomberg said two officers shot Johnson after he pointed the gun at them. It was not clear how many shots were fired or how many times Johnson was hit. "Whether [Johnson] got off any bullets, we just don't know yet," Bloomberg said at a news conference in Manhattan. Kelly said none of the other injured -- two women and seven men -- were believed to have suffered life-threatening injuries. There were no children or elderly among the victims. Officials said two people were confirmed dead at the scene, while six victims were transported to Bellevue Hospital Center and three were taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill-Cornell Medical Center. The conditions of the victims were not immediately known. Bloomberg, citing statistics saying New York is the safest big city in the United States, said, "We are not immune to gun violence." A law enforcement source told Newsday a preliminary investigation has found "no nexis to terrorism" and said an FBI team is on the scene "out of an abundance of caution." Two hours after the shooting, a body with a yellow police investigation card near his hand, laid under a sheet on the south side of West 34th Street, just east of the entrance to the Empire State Building. A uniformed police officer and a suited investigator stood nearby, taking notes as the investigation continued. A red and black backpack was on the sidewalk nearby.