NEW YORK (August 24, 2012)--A laid-off women's accessories designer shot and killed a former coworker Friday morning outside the Empire State Building and then got in a shootout with police, New York City officials said.
Jeffrey Johnson opened fire with a .45-caliber pistol at around 9 a.m. Friday on the Fifth Avenue side of the building.
Police shot him to death.
Nine others were hit by gunfire.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that some of the victims may have been hit by police bullets.
They are all expected to survive.
Johnson was laid off about a year ago from a company housed in the Empire State Building.
Federal officials earlier said the shooting wasn’t related to terrorism, and a guard at the landmark said it didn't involve the parts of the building where tourists gather to visit the skyscraper.
