2012 Empire State Building shooting

Shooting incident in New York, U.S. December 2025 August 2012 2012 Empire State Building shooting Empire State shooting 2012.jpeg The body of Ercolino after being shot outside the Empire State Building. United States Manhattan Empire State Building is in Manhattan Location of the Empire State Building 40 44 54.36 N 73 59 08.36 W 34th Street and Fifth Avenueoutside the Empire State Building, New York City, United States 40 44 54.36 N 73 59 08.36 W region:US-NY_type:event inline,title 2012 8 24 09:03 a.m. (EDT) UTC-04:00 Shooting, shootout 2 (including the perpetrator) 9 (all by stray NYPD gunfire) Jeffrey T. Johnson,Wilson, Michael Halbfinger, David M. Otterman, Sharon Long Before Carnage, an Office Grudge Festered https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/25/nyregion/in-empire-state-killing-a-grudge-boiled-over.html?pagewanted=all August 24, 2012 New York Times August 24, 2012 unnamed NYPD police officers Star M1911 .45-caliber handgun On August 24, 2012, a gunman shot and killed a former co-worker outside the Empire State Building in New York City. Following the initial shooting, the gunman, 58-year-old Jeffrey T. Johnson, was fatally shot by police officers after raising his weapon at them. Nine bystanders were wounded by stray bullets fired by the officers and ricocheting debris, but none suffered life-threatening injuries.http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/24/justice/new-york-empire-state/?hpt=hp_t3 2 dead, 9 wounded in Empire State Building shootings, police say Ariosto David August 24, 2012 CNN August 25, 2012 Timeline of events thumb|upright|left|The Empire State Building On Friday, August 24, 2012, at approximately 9:03 a.m. EDT, at the 33rd Street side of the Empire State Building, Jeffrey Johnson, a clothing designer who had been laid off, emerged from hiding behind a van, pointed a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun at a former co-worker's head, and fired one round.https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390444270404577609130688482626 Two Dead in Shooting Near Empire State Building The Wall Street Journal August 24, 2012 August 24, 2012 El-Ghobashy, Tamer Hollander, Sophia Karas, Tania Once the victim fell to the ground, Johnson stood over him and fired at him four more times, killing him.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/24/empire-state-building-sho_n_1827534.html?1345815551&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmaing6%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D196796 Empire State Building Shooting: Multiple Wounded After Gunman Opens Fire The Huffington Post Associated Press August 24, 2012 August 24, 2012https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jUboTbF6sYBv8pgZ4o7BexX_fZ-Q?docId=5c9bedc2d4544ee683b9bc7a19b64a94 Police kill gunman outside Empire State Building The Associated Press August 24, 2012 August 24, 2012June 2024 medicmedic A coworker of the victim said she witnessed Johnson walk up to him and pull a gun out of his jacket. After the shooting, Johnson concealed the handgun in a briefcase he was carrying, while pedestrians in the vicinity of the site of the shooting screamed and panicked. A construction worker followed him east on 33rd Street then north on Fifth Avenue and alerted police officers who were stationed in front of the Empire State Building's Fifth Avenue entrance.10 reported shot in front of Empire State Building http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/24/shooting-reported-outside-empire-state-building/ CNN August 24, 2012 August 24, 2012 August 22, 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210822212151/https://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/24/shooting-reported-outside-empire-state-building/ dead When confronted by the two officers, Johnson raised his weapon, but didn't fire. The officers fired with a total of 16 rounds, killing Johnson and injuring nine bystanders, none of whom suffered life-threatening wounds. Two officers had discharged their weapons: Craig Matthews; who fired off seven rounds, and Robert Sinishtaj; who fired off nine rounds. Neither had discharged their weapons on patrol before.The Associated Press Associated Press 2012-08-25 Empire State Building shooting: 9 people wounded by police gunfire https://www.denverpost.com/2012/08/25/empire-state-building-shooting-9-people-wounded-by-police-gunfire/ 2025-01-16 The Denver Post en-US Three of the bystanders were directly hit by police gunfire, while the rest of the injuries were caused by fragments of ricocheting bullets, or by debris from other objects hit by police. Sergio Peçanha Lisa Waananen Haeyoun Park Matthew Ericson The Shooting Near the Empire State Building August 24, 2012 https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/08/24/nyregion/shooting-near-empire-state-building.html New York Times August 24, 2012 David Ariosto Police: All Empire State shooting victims were wounded by officers August 25, 2012 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/25/justice/new-york-empire-state-shooting/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 CNN August 25, 2012 Johnson's handgun, which held eight rounds, still had two rounds remaining when he was shot, and extra ammunition was found inside his briefcase. A witness said people at the scene were shouting, "Get down! Get down!" and that the gunfire lasted about 15 seconds.At least 10 injured near the Empire State Building https://abc7ny.com/archive/8785101/ August 24, 2012 ABC News August 24, 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120824170719/http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news%2Flocal%2Fnew_york&id=8785101 August 24, 2012 live http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4272620,00.html Gunman kills 1, wounds 8 at Empire State Building Ynetnews Yedioth Ahronot August 24, 2012 August 24, 2012 The victims, five women and four men ranging in age from 20 to 43, were hospitalized at Bellevue Hospital Center, and NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. By Friday evening, six of the nine were treated and released from the hospitals. Eight victims were from New York City, and one woman was visiting from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Colleen Long 2 killed, 9 wounded outside Empire State Building August 24, 2012 http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/2-killed-9-wounded-outside-Empire-State-Building-3812520.php Associated Press August 24, 2012 Perpetrator Jeffrey T. Johnson, a 58-year-old Manhattan resident, was identified as the perpetrator. He was laid off from his job as a women's apparel designer at Hazan Imports at 10 E. 33rd St. about a year prior to the shootings,Susman Tina NYC shooting: Gunman kills former co-worker; at least 9 hurt http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-bloomberg-empire-state-building-shooting-20120824,0,7004815.story August 24, 2012 The Los Angeles Times August 24, 2012 due to a downsizing of employees. He held his victim responsible for his resultant financial problems and police sources say he recently found out that he was being evicted from his apartment, which may have precipitated the shooting.Eviction was Empire State Building gunman's final straw: police source Larry Celona Erin Calabrese Pedro Jr. Oliveira http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/eviction_was_fatal_trigger_NTBXUwgHs5niN5LumAakYO New York Post August 26, 2012 August 27, 2012 Johnson was born in Japan in 1953 to a Japanese mother and American father and moved to the United States when he was 10 months old, where he grew up in Gainesville, Georgia.Jeffrey Johnson's Mother Asks Why Wendy Ruderman https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/28/nyregion/after-empire-state-building-shooting-jeffrey-johnsons-mother-asks-why.html?pagewanted=all New York Times August 27, 2012 August 27, 2012 He had worked at the company for six years and lived alone in a walk-up apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side at the time of the attack. His building's superintendent and neighbors described him as a quiet and polite man who was seen every morning wearing a suit, greeting his neighbors and getting takeout from a nearby McDonald's, then usually remaining in his apartment for the rest of the day. He had no known criminal record or history of psychiatric problems and the handgun used in the shooting was legally purchased in Sarasota, Florida in 1991, but he did not have a license to carry a handgun in New York City. He served in the United States Coast Guard from 1973 to 1977 and was honorably discharged with the rank of petty officer second class.Dienst Jonathan Prokupecz, Shimon Cheng, Pei-Sze Glorioso, Chris Russo, Melissa Empire State Gunman Threatened to Kill Victim Last Year http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Empire-State-Building-Shooting-Suspect-Jeffrey-Johnson-167331715.html August 24, 2012 NBC New York August 24, 2012 Johnson attended the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida from 1978 to 1980, and owned a T-shirt design company entitled St. Jolly's Art. He was also involved with a community of birdwatching photographers who were interested in hawks in Central Park. His snapshots regularly appeared on blogs tracking the birds in the area.Hays Tom N.Y. gunman was a loner; victim outgoing family man https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-08-25/empire-state-building-victim/57297548/1 August 25, 2012 USA Today August 25, 2012Who was Jeffrey Johnson? Facts about gunman in Empire State Building shooting https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/who-was-jeffrey-johnson-facts-about-gunman-in-empire-state-building-shooting/2012/08/24/2d8e894c-ee29-11e1-afd6-f55f84bc0c41_story.html August 24, 2012 Washington Post August 24, 2012 Victim Steven Ercolino, a 41-year-old salesman, was identified by police as the slain victim. He lived with his girlfriend in Union City, New Jersey and was a vice president at Hazan Imports. He was a 1992 graduate of the State University of New York at Oneonta. Ercolino's brother, Paul, said that Steven never mentioned having any problems with a co-worker and described him, along with others that knew him, as a gregarious, outgoing family man. Ercolino and Johnson had filed harassment complaints against each other and Johnson had reportedly threatened to kill Ercolino before. There were disputes between the two due to Ercolino not promoting Johnson's T-shirt line. One incident that was reported to the police happened inside an elevator, when Johnson threw his elbow at Ercolino, who responded by grabbing Johnson's throat and threatening him. In another incident, in April 2011, Johnson reportedly told Ercolino "I'm going to kill you" while on the elevator. Despite Johnson being laid off in 2011, he visited the company on a regular basis afterwards and reportedly had confrontations with Ercolino each time.https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/25/nyregion/empire-state-building-shooting.html Eleven People Shot, Two Fatally, Outside Empire State Building Barron James David M. Halbfinger William K. Rashbaum August 25, 2012 The New York Times August 24, 2012http://globalgrind.com/news/empire-state-building-shooting-victim-name-steve-ercolino-dead-co-worker-jeffrey-johnson-photos HE HAS A NAME: Steve Ercolino Identified As Co-Worker Shot At Empire State Building (PHOTOS) August 24, 2012 Global Grind August 24, 2012http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/steven-ercolino-beloved-dad-a-friend-article-1.1144321 Empire State shooting victim Steven Ercolino described as 'absolute sweetheart, a really nice guy' Willis Kerry Slattery, Dennis McShane, Larry August 25, 2012 New York Daily News August 26, 2012 Aftermath At a news conference shortly after the shootings, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said that it appeared that police might have accidentally shot civilians during the incident.https://abcnews.go.com/US/shots-fired-empire-state-building/story?id=17072385 Empire State Building Shooting Suspect Had Been Fired a Year Ago - ABC News Abcnews.go.com August 24, 2012 The day following the shooting, Kelly confirmed that all of the bystanders had been wounded as a result of police gunfire. The New York Police Department released a brief surveillance video of the shootout between Johnson and the police. The footage shows Johnson wearing a suit, holding a briefcase, and raising his handgun at the officers, who then responded with gunfire. Johnson is shown being struck by the officers' bullets, dropping his briefcase, and falling to the ground on his back. People sitting on a bench and walking nearby are shown immediately fleeing the scene. A second video was caught by an Australian tourist from street level, where officers are seen with weapons pointed at Johnson lying on his back, just after he was shot. The camera then pans to the nearby streets where bystanders were struck, and to pedestrians trying to hide behind buildings during the ensuing chaos.http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-video-police-shoot-empire-state-suspect-20120824,0,7302632.story Video captures fatal shootout between NYC police and gunman Nelson Laura August 24, 2012 The Los Angeles Times August 24, 2012 In 2017, several victims mentioned the event still affects them to this day, and they have made progress in bringing forth a suit against the NYPD. Sandoval, Edgar; Showalter, Aaron; Gioino, Catherina; Ortiz, Edward; McShane, Larry (August 23, 2017). "Victims of police gunfight outside Empire State Building feel trauma as five-year anniversary of shooting nears". New York Daily News. Retrieved February 23, 2018. See also New York City 1997 Empire State Building shooting, a previous shooting that took place inside the building. References 30em Further reading The Shooting Near the Empire State Building, map at The New York Times Video captures fatal shootout between NYC police and gunman at the Los Angeles Times Category:2012 in New York City Category:2012 murders in the United States Category:August 2012 crimes in the United States Category:2010s crimes in New York City Category:Crimes in Manhattan Category:Deaths by firearm in Manhattan Category:Empire State Building Category:Filmed killings in the United States Category:2010s in Manhattan Category:Murder in New York City Category:Attacks in the United States in 2012 Category:2012 mass shootings in the United States