Two people were killed and nine injured in a shooting outside New York's Empire State building on Friday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg told journalists near the scene of the incident.
All of the injured - two women and seven men - were hospitalized. Some may have been accidentally shot by police.
Police dismissed that the shooting was a terrorist attack. Bloomberg, who called the shooting a “terrible tragedy,” said it had “nothing to do with terrorism.”
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly identified the shooter as Manhattan resident Jeffrey Johnson, 53. He said he was a “disgruntled former employee” who worked at Hazan Imports as a designer, but was laid off last year. The victim was Johnson's former coworker, whom he fatally shot in the head.
As Johnson attempted to flee, an eyewitness alerted two police officers, who started a pursuit.
The New York mayor confirmed that one of the victims was the shooter himself.
“The perpetrator clearly turned his gun on the police... [Police] returned fire, killing him,” he said.
