EMPIRE STATE BUILDING PEDESTRIANS SHOT BY NYPD

The Way I C IT...

New York City is jam packed with out of towners, pedestrians and bystanders.  The streets are always crowded, there is no way the shooter could have been taken down without some civilian casualty.

 

 

 

NYPD Gunfire In Empire State Building Shooting Wounded All Nine Bystanders

 

 

 

New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said all nine bystanders wounded in Friday's Empire State Building shooting had been hit with police gunfire, CNN reported Saturday morning.

According to Kelly, of the nine wounded, three suffered gunshot wounds and six were hit by fragments.

Gunfire broke out shortly after 9 a.m. on Friday when a gunman identified as 58-year old Jeffrey Johnson shot and killed former coworker Steve Ercolino near the Empire State Building.

Johnson attempted to flee the scene, but was thwarted after a construction worker who followed him tipped off police officers.

Police approached Johnson who aimed his gun at the officers before police opened fire, killing him on the spot.

The NYPD said officers fired 16 rounds with one officer shooting nine and another seven.

During a press conference held on Friday, Mayor Bloomberg had said some individuals may have been shot at by NYPD.

Less than two weeks prior to Friday's shooting, NYPD shot and killed a knife-wielding man in Times Square. The bizarre incident caused many to question if the NYPD had overreacted.

Since the chaotic incident, details have emerged describing a hostile relationship between Johnson and Ercolino, who both worked at Hazan Imports together until Johnson was laid off nearly two years ago.