2 dead in workplace shooting near Empire State Building
A disgruntled laid-off women’s accessories designer shot a former co-worker to death in front of the Empire State Building, causing a chaotic showdown with police in front of one of the world’s best-known landmarks. Police killed the suspect and at least nine others were wounded, some possibly by police gunfire, city officials said.
Some of the wounded were grazed by bullets and others hit directly, but all were expected to survive, officials said.
The gunshots rang out on the Fifth Avenue side of the building at around 9 a.m., a time of day when the sidewalks around the building are packed with pedestrians and merchants were opening their shops.
“People were yelling ‘Get down! Get down!”, said Marc Engel, an accountant who was on a bus in the area when he heard the shots. “It took about 15 seconds, a lot of ‘pop, pop, pop, pop, one shot after the other.”