Jeffrey Johnson, a quiet, 58-year-old loner without a wife or children, lived near Central Park where he bird-watched and photographed hawks. He left his Manhattan apartment at eight in the morning of August 24, 2012 dressed in a suit and tie, and carrying a briefcase. Johnson, a T-shirt designer, had been unemployed for a year after being laid off from his job in the garment district. Behind in his rent, he faced eviction, and on this Friday morning, left his apartment keys behind in an envelope for his landlord. In his briefcase he carried a .45-caliber pistol, and extra ammunition. Mr. Johnson had no intention of returning home that day, or ever.
Just before nine o'clock, Johnson took up a position between two parked cars near the offices of his former employer, the Hazan Import Company located just down the street from the Empire State Building. Johnson was lying in wait for Steve Eroclino, the company's vice president in charge of sales. It was no secret that Johnson believed that because Ercolino had not aggressively marketed his latest T-shirt line, he had lost his job at Hazan. Following. the termination, the 41-year-old sales executive accused Johnson of harassment. There was clearly bad blood between these two men. While hard feelings are common in business and people get fired, Mr. Johnson wasn't your ordinary disgruntled ex-employee. That Friday morning in the heart of New York City, Jeffrey Johnson was on a mission to kill Mr. Eroclino and then force the police kill him. He probably didn't realize that several innocent bystanders would go down in the crossfire. Or maybe he did know and just didn't care.
As Steve Eroclino approached the building housing the Hazan Import Company, Johnson came out from behind the parked cars, walked up to his target, and shot him in the head. Mr. Eroclino dropped to the pavement. Standing over the man he had just shot, Johnson pumped four more bullets into his body. After making certain that Mr. Eroclino was dead, Johnson calmly walked down the sidewalk toward the Empire State Building at 34th and Fifth Avenue.
Two New York City patrol officers who had been standing a few yards from the shooting site approached Johnson with their guns drawn as he moved along the sidewalk among panicked pedestrians. Johnson, aware he was being stalked by the officers, abruptly turned to them and raised his pistol. The police officers, just feet from the gunman, opened fire, sixteen shots in all. Three of their bullets found Johnson, nine of the slugs ricocheted into, or directly hit, nine pedestrians desperately trying to get out of the way. Bleeding bystanders were scattered about the sidewalk and lying in the street. According to initial news reports, the gunman had killed one man, then had opened fire on innocent tourists. But Johnson and the nine pedestrians had been shot by the two officers. Of the ten people shot by the police that morning in the shadow of the Empire State Building, Jeffrey Johnson was the only one killed.
One of the police officers had fired nine times, his partner had fired the other seven bullets. All of the bullets were hollow-points. Compared to full-jacketed projectiles, hollow-points, upon impact, expand. This makes this type of bullet especially damaging to human tissue and bone. The police prefer hollow-points because they are more lethal than regular slugs, and they do not pierce vehicles, walls, and other barriers. For that reason, hollow-points are considered appropriate for use in urban settings. But they do ricochet, and when they miss their targets and hit bystanders, they produce angry wounds.
In the Empire State Building case, the fact these officers, while firing sixteen shots at an armed gunman at close range, fired thirteen stray bullets reveals an important reality about police-involved shootings. Formal firearms training, and hours and hours of police range target practice, does not prepare officers for real-life gunplay. The conditions in military combat situations do not lend themselves to handgun accuracy. Moreover, the use of semi-automatic pistols in an urban landscape where bullets ricochet amid a dense population puts bystanders at risk. Notwithstanding the best firearms training in the world, collateral damage is always a risk in police involved-shootings. Fortunately cases like the Empire State Building shootings are rare.
Just before nine o'clock, Johnson took up a position between two parked cars near the offices of his former employer, the Hazan Import Company located just down the street from the Empire State Building. Johnson was lying in wait for Steve Eroclino, the company's vice president in charge of sales. It was no secret that Johnson believed that because Ercolino had not aggressively marketed his latest T-shirt line, he had lost his job at Hazan. Following. the termination, the 41-year-old sales executive accused Johnson of harassment. There was clearly bad blood between these two men. While hard feelings are common in business and people get fired, Mr. Johnson wasn't your ordinary disgruntled ex-employee. That Friday morning in the heart of New York City, Jeffrey Johnson was on a mission to kill Mr. Eroclino and then force the police kill him. He probably didn't realize that several innocent bystanders would go down in the crossfire. Or maybe he did know and just didn't care.
As Steve Eroclino approached the building housing the Hazan Import Company, Johnson came out from behind the parked cars, walked up to his target, and shot him in the head. Mr. Eroclino dropped to the pavement. Standing over the man he had just shot, Johnson pumped four more bullets into his body. After making certain that Mr. Eroclino was dead, Johnson calmly walked down the sidewalk toward the Empire State Building at 34th and Fifth Avenue.
Two New York City patrol officers who had been standing a few yards from the shooting site approached Johnson with their guns drawn as he moved along the sidewalk among panicked pedestrians. Johnson, aware he was being stalked by the officers, abruptly turned to them and raised his pistol. The police officers, just feet from the gunman, opened fire, sixteen shots in all. Three of their bullets found Johnson, nine of the slugs ricocheted into, or directly hit, nine pedestrians desperately trying to get out of the way. Bleeding bystanders were scattered about the sidewalk and lying in the street. According to initial news reports, the gunman had killed one man, then had opened fire on innocent tourists. But Johnson and the nine pedestrians had been shot by the two officers. Of the ten people shot by the police that morning in the shadow of the Empire State Building, Jeffrey Johnson was the only one killed.
One of the police officers had fired nine times, his partner had fired the other seven bullets. All of the bullets were hollow-points. Compared to full-jacketed projectiles, hollow-points, upon impact, expand. This makes this type of bullet especially damaging to human tissue and bone. The police prefer hollow-points because they are more lethal than regular slugs, and they do not pierce vehicles, walls, and other barriers. For that reason, hollow-points are considered appropriate for use in urban settings. But they do ricochet, and when they miss their targets and hit bystanders, they produce angry wounds.
In the Empire State Building case, the fact these officers, while firing sixteen shots at an armed gunman at close range, fired thirteen stray bullets reveals an important reality about police-involved shootings. Formal firearms training, and hours and hours of police range target practice, does not prepare officers for real-life gunplay. The conditions in military combat situations do not lend themselves to handgun accuracy. Moreover, the use of semi-automatic pistols in an urban landscape where bullets ricochet amid a dense population puts bystanders at risk. Notwithstanding the best firearms training in the world, collateral damage is always a risk in police involved-shootings. Fortunately cases like the Empire State Building shootings are rare.
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