23 CommentsJust after 9 this morning a man fired shots around the Empire State Building. There is no connection to terrorism; the gunman is said to have been an employee at a Midtown store. He returned to the store at 10 W 33rd Street and shot and killed his manager before firing on the street. The gunman was shot and killed by NYPD, 9 people were injured. Mayor Bloomberg just arrived on the scene and a press conference is scheduled for 11 am.
5th Avenue is now closed from 23rd-42nd Street; 34th street is closed from Park to 6th Avenue. There are bus delays on the M1, M2, M3, M4, M34, and Q32 lines. Plan accordingly.
Update, 2:35 pm: Tipster Sarba B sends the following photo from the scene.
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23 Comments
@Anonymous I have no desire to even watch the video of the shooting….
@Anonymous “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.”
Great job, NYPD!
@Anonymous I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me, but I seriously laughed out loud when I read the quote.
@Anonymous Yeah, because letting a crazed gunman run around a heavily populated city firing shots is the better option.
@Anonymous A gunman…not necessarily crazed. He only fired at one person. It helps to at least consider the possibility that, maybe, he would have put down the gun and cooperatively gone into custody. It never hurts to rethink the tactics law enforcement uses in situations like this.
@Anonymous The videotape!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYWgrHwrlf8
@lol NYPD officer on the right shooting with one hand, not aiming right, and running back at the same time.
@Anonymous I think there are more people killed near Columbia in the Harlem than near Empire State Building. Why making such a big deal?
@Anonymous I know it was an innocent typo, but I’m loving the phrasing “the Harlem”
@Anonymous don’t worry folks! Columbia is the second safest precinct in new york. Second only to Central Park (which has no residents so that’s cheating). But seriously, this is a real stat.
@Anonymous Central Park has 25 residents (2010 Census)
@Anonymous Not to be insensitive, but why is this national news? My parents in FL called because that’s all the news channels were playing all morning.
@Anonymous Because most major media networks are headquartered within a .25-mi radius and it’s easy to send reporters there.
@Anonymous And Florida’s full of expat New Yorkers.
@Anonymous It was on the evening news on the swiss national television
@Anonymous It’s also because it was near the Empire State Building, and so people thought it might be an act of terrorism.
@horrible tragedy i heard one of them was a columbia finance-related alum, probably 1-3 years out.
@Just in time for NSOP. Cue nervous parents.
@Somewhat relevant I always imagine that the parents of the class of ’05 must have flipped their shit when 9/11 happened. It would be interesting if Bwog did an article on how the university responded to 9/11 with stuff like transfer rates and whatnot.
@Anonymous wow, maybe people will finally realize that gun control doesn’t work.
@Anonymous ? This is exactly why we need gun control. Get guns off NYC streets!
@Anonymous that’s like saying umbrellas don’t work cause your feet got wet.
@Anonymous You’re not the NY Times, Bwog. Don’t even bother.
/ “Breaking news” that’s 2 hours late.