Bloodbath at The Empire State Picture emerges after axed worker's gun mayhem

Gunman ... Jeffrey Johnson

wnbc

THIS is the sacked worker who gunned down his ex-boss near the Empire State Building yesterday — before dying in a hail of bullets from police that left nine people wounded.

Jeffrey Johnson, 53, was wearing a suit and tie and carrying a briefcase when he shot Steven Ercolino, 41, five times.
A witness said Johnson blasted his victim in the head — then, as he fell to the ground, stood over him and fired four more times.

Shock ... curious passers-by peer at Johnson's body after his 9am terror rampage

TMZ.com / Splash News

Victim ... Steven Ercolino outside shop

A woman who worked with Mr Ercolino was walking with him when he was attacked at 9am.
Irene Timan, 35, said: “I saw Jeff pull a gun from his jacket and I thought to myself, ‘Oh my God, he’s going to shoot him’.

Video:

Police release video of Empire State shooting scene

News

CCTV footage shows moment police fire on Jeffrey Johnson who had just fatally shot former co-worker

“Steve screamed, Jeff shot him and I turned and ran. Jeff didn’t say a single word.”
As Johnson walked away from the scene outside a clothes shop in New York, he was chased by a construction worker, who alerted two cops.

Victim ... body lies under cover

Doug Meszler / Splash News

Slain ... Steven Ercolino

They confronted the former women’s accessories designer, who was armed with a .45-calibre pistol, and opened fire.
Johnson — who is not believed to have shot at police — was hit seven times. He died in a hail of bullets that had tourists and commuters diving for cover and left nine wounded.
Witness Rebecca Fox said: “There was blood on the sidewalk. It was like a scene out of CSI.”
Police said Johnson had been laid off at Hazan Imports about a year ago and blamed Ercolino — believing the boss had failed to aggressively promote his line of women’s T-shirts.
A man who answered the phone at Mr Ercolino’s home last night said only: “He was a good son.”
The wounded five woman and four men, aged 20 to 56, were treated for non-life threatening injuries.

Cornered ... CCTV show Johnson confronting police officers outside the Empire State Building

Killed ... cops look on after Jeffrey Johnson was taken out

p.samson@the-sun.co.uk

3rd outrage in 5 weeks

THE shooting in New York is the third gun outrage in the US in little more than a month.

Killer ... James Holmes

Five weeks ago, James Holmes, 24, killed 13 people in a Colorado cinema during Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises.
On August 5, neo-Nazi Wade Michael Page, 40, killed six at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin before being shot dead.
A man, 51, was also shot dead by cops in New York after pulling a knife on August 11.

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