Empire State Building Shooting: NYPD Gunfire Wounded All 9 Victims - East Idaho News
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Empire State Building Shooting: NYPD Gunfire Wounded All 9 Victims

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Getty N 082512 NYPDCars?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1345926512874iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — All nine people wounded in an incident when a man gunned down a former co-worker outside the Empire State Building and then was killed by cops were hit by police gunfire, New York Police Department Commissioner Raymond Kelly confirmed Saturday.

The victims, who Kelly said were all hit either by bullets or “fragments” of bullets fired by police, sustained non-life threatening injuries. Two remain hospitalized, while a third was held overnight for observation due to elevated blood pressure, according to the NYPD.

Police said Jeffrey Johnson shot Steven Ercolino, a former co-worker, on Friday and then stood over his prone body, pumping more bullets into him.

Two NYPD officers, who each have 15 years on the force and no prior shootings, encountered Johnson, 58, a half block from where he shot Ercolino in front of the Empire State Building.

The dramatic and deadly confrontation was captured on surveillance video that was released Saturday by the NYPD.

Johnson can be seen on the surveillance video pointing his gun at officers, who were eight feet away.

The officers fired 16 times, producing 10 bullet holes on the gunman’s body.

Johnson had two live rounds in his .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol when he was shot, police said. They initially believed the gun had misfired, however Commissioner Raymond Kelly said investigators have examined the weapon and concluded Johnson did not try to fire on police.

Bystanders caught in between the gunman and a spray of bullets were injured by a combination of richochets and bullet fragments, police said.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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