[UPDATE] Shooting At Empire State Building

[UPDATE 11:45AM August 24, 2012] NEW YORK (AP) — New York City officials say a laid-off women's accessories designer shot and killed co-worker outside the Empire State Building, then got in a shootout with police.

Fifty-three-year-old Jeffrey Johnson opened fire with a .45-caliber pistol at about 9 a.m. Friday on the Fifth Avenue side of the building. He was shot dead by police.

Nine others were hit by gunfire. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that some of the victims may have been hit by police bullets. The victims are expected to survive.

Johnson was laid off about a year ago from a company housed in the Empire State Building.

[11:30AM August 24, 2012] NEW YORK (AP) — Mayor: Some victims in Empire State Building shooting may have been hit by police bullets.

[11:01am August 24, 2012]

NEW YORK (AP) — Two law enforcement officials in New York City say a recently fired store worker shot a former colleague to death and then randomly opened fired on others near the Empire State Building.

The officials say eight other people were struck by bullets but those injuries are not believed to be life threatening.

The officials say the gunman previously worked at a store inside the landmark skyscraper.

Federal officials say the shooting isn'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.

[8:28AM August 24 2012] New York City police say at least four people have been shot outside the Empire State Building and that the gunman is dead.

A witness says the shooter was firing indiscriminately.
The shooting happened Friday morning at 34th Street and Fifth Avenue.

A fire department spokesman says it received a call about the shooting just after at 9 a.m. Friday and that emergency units were on the scene within minutes.
The department says paramedics are evaluating eight people but some of them may not have been shot.
One witness says that she was standing at a red light when a woman standing next to her fell to the ground. She says the woman was hit in the hip. She says the gunman was "shooting indiscriminately at people."

Source:  AP