Gunman opens fire at NYC City Hall, killing one (James Davis) and injuring a second.
One killed in NY City Hall shooting
Wednesday, July 23, 2003 Posted: 4:10 PM EDT (2010 GMT)
NEW YORK (CNN) -- One person was killed and another wounded in a shooting Wednesday at New York's City Hall, and the shooter remains at large, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly described the shooter as a man wearing either a blue suit or a blue blazer. A witness described the shooter as a man in his 40s wearing a cream-colored suit.
"We do not know how someone got a gun into the building," Bloomberg told reporters. "Obviously, there was a breakdown someplace. Somebody got an unauthorized gun into City Hall, and tragically used it."
Councilman Joel Rivera said the gunman was talking with Councilman James Davis and then pulled out a handgun and shot him. But there has been no official confirmation.
The shooter had come in with one of Davis' staff members, Rivera said, which could indicate he did not have to go through standard security procedures.
After the incident, police searched Davis' staff member and escorted him out of the chamber, Rivera said.
Two people were carried out on stretchers. A Fire Department of New York spokesman said two were transported to NYU Hospital in Lower Manhattan. The hospital said it has two people from the scene, and both were receiving emergency treatment.
"This is an attack on democracy," said Bloomberg. "This is not terrorism -- it appears to be a random act."
Bloomberg was inside his office in the City Hall building when the shooting occurred, said his press secretary, Edward Skyler.
Two people are taken from City Hall on stretchers after the shooting.
"We have a description of the shooter and that description is being used by the police at this moment -- they are searching City Hall and they are searching the neighborhood," Bloomberg said.
There are conflicting reports on whether the shooter was wounded.
Several City Council members said they were in the chamber waiting for a session to begin when someone in the balcony fired multiple shots with a silver handgun -- and that a City Council member was hit and fell to the ground.
Then, the shooter appeared to be shot, and he fell down, City Council members said. It was not clear who shot him.
"All pandemonium broke out," Councilman Michael McMahon of Staten Island said.
Manhattan Councilwoman Gale Brewer described a scene of panic.
"We dove under our desks and we were piled on top of each other because so many of us had never experienced something like this," she said.
Soon, everyone was running down the stairs to get out of the building, she said.
"We were running really fast. People were tripping, they were falling -- they were even falling over the line in front of the guard rail. And then we ran down into the rotunda of the City Hall and then we were told by the police to run even further. People were jumping over the fence that is in City Hall parking lot to get out into the street," she said.
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