Gunman opens fire outside Empire State Building, is shot by police

Hello Friends!

A gunman opened fire Friday morning outside the Empire State Building in New York, and as many as 10 people were shot, one of them fatally, before the assailant was killed by police, news services reported.

Law enforcement sources in Washington said the shooting appeared to have no connection to terrorism. They confirmed that police killed the gunman and said that seven to eight people were wounded. Officials were trying to sort out the numbers, and FBI agents were on the scene, the sources said.

CNN initially reported that five people were hit and that police, who were nearby, fatally shot the gunman. The network later quoted New York’s Office of Emergency Management as saying 10 people were shot and that two, including the gunman, were dead.

The New York Post said a total of 10 people were shot and that one of the two fatalities was a woman described as an innocent bystander who died of her wounds.

The Post said the shooting stemmed from a dispute between co-workers. The paper’s Web site said it was unclear what sparked the deadly argument.

A New York Fire Department spokesman said a call about the shooting was received shortly after 9 a.m. and that emergency units arrived within minutes at the scene at 34th Street and Fifth Avenue.

After the shooting, the body of the gunman lay on the sidewalk under a white sheet outside the Empire State Building, a major tourist attraction that attracts long lines of visitors during the height of the summer tourist season. Police cordoned off the building and pushed a large crowd of tourists back half a block.

CNN quoted witnesses as saying the incident apparently started when a man chased another man and pulled out a weapon, described as looking like a sawed-off shotgun, and opened fire. An unarmed security guard in charge of elevators inside the Empire State Building then ran out and pursued the gunman while calling for help, CNN said.

Police quickly joined the chase and shot the gunman three times, CNN reported, quoting witnesses.

Culled from The Washington Post.

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Simply Cheska...