# 10 reported shot in front of Empire State Building. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 24, 2012, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487 "2012-08-24T14:12:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487/21 "2012-08-24T16:09:00Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I thought basic decency dictates that maybe people express some sympathy or surprise before we start this bullshit gun cliche stuff _again_ since this same goes-nowhere discussion has already played out in several mass shooting threads this summer. Yeah, best of luck with that whole “basic decency” theory. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487/22 "2012-08-24T16:13:29Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Yeah it is such a bullshit cliche to actually want to do something Making a snarky post on a message board does not count as “doing something.” It’s a substitute for doing something. Expressing sympathy doesn’t change anything either, but it does at least relate to people on some human level in addition to illustrating some concern. [Anyway some relevant details are now out there](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_EMPIRE_STATE_BUILDING_SHOOTING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-08-24-11-49-15): the shooter was named Jeffrey Johnson, and he’s a “former women’s accessories designer” who lost his job a year ago. He murdered a former coworker and then started shooting at other people before police shot and killed him. > [@Dr.Drake](#): > > The fact that there have been several mass shootings this summer indicates a systemic problem. I happen to agree. > [@](#): > > I think you can (and should) take some fellow-feeling for granted without requiring pro forma expressions thereof. Then let’s take “If more people had guns the people that got shot could have shot the shooter before they got shot. [hyuk hyuk]” for granted, too. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487/23 "2012-08-24T16:13:38Z")
The Onion had an article, yesterday I believe, whose headline was: Nation Celebrates Full Week Without A Deadly Mass Shooting. This morning, underneath it they wrote: Update: never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487/24 "2012-08-24T16:41:24Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > First reply! Can it be the tenth reply? How about the thirty-sixth? If **nogravity** wants to say something, he should be asked to sit around until some arbitrary number of posts are made before he can say it? And now we’re also allowed to tell others here what they should and should not post? I may be wrong, but this seems to be a bit of an overreaction. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487/25 "2012-08-24T16:45:40Z")
> [@nogravity](#): > > If more people had guns the people that got shot could have shot the shooter before they got shot. Most of the people appear now to have been shot by the police in the crossfire. ---
**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487/26 "2012-08-24T16:55:09Z")
Is it still a newsworthy mass shooting if gunman kills one person and cops kill him and graze nine other people? Rob ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487/27 "2012-08-24T16:57:27Z")
If only there had been an armed civilian, who had taken a CCW class, he would almost certainly have been able to neutralize the shooter without hitting innocent bystanders, unlike those poorly-trained NYPD officers. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487/28 "2012-08-24T17:02:04Z")
I am a bit surprised the NY Times is using such a graphic photo on their main page. > [@](#): > > I’m surprised that this shooting involved a famous landmark Well, the address the gunman worked is on the same corner as the Empire State Building, but it’s not the building itself. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487/29 "2012-08-24T17:06:19Z")
August slow news month. People shooting each other in NY. So? ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487/30 "2012-08-24T17:17:04Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > August slow news month. People shooting each other in NY. So? Back in 1994, I had just moved to Greenwich Village in downtown Manhattan, and there was a similar broad daylight shooting. I lived in the city until 2006, and don’t remember anything similar happening in Manhattan. I’m sure there were such shootings, but it was a pretty safe city, or perhaps I should say borough, as the outer boroughs are more violent. Other than that shooting though, I only saw one other act of brutal violence in all my time there. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487/31 "2012-08-24T17:22:34Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I am a bit surprised the NY Times is using such a graphic photo on their main page. Yes, that’s very graphic and a little surprising. [In case it gets changed later, it’s a picture of Johnson’s victim lying in a pool of blood on the street. It’s taken from several stories up.] > [@levdrakon](#): > > August slow news month. People shooting each other in NY. So? It’s a very safe city and there’s not a lot of shooting considering there are 8 million people here. And I don’t think most of those shootings happen right outside the Empire State Building. But other than that, yes, slow news month. :rolleyes: Bloomberg said that Johnson began shooting at the officers outside the building after he killed his victim. So it’s possible he wounded some of the others, and the officers may have shot some of the others as they returned fire. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487/32 "2012-08-24T17:22:55Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > August slow news month. People shooting each other in NY. So? New York City is the safest big city in the country. A shootout on the street of midtown Manhattan, especially in broad daylight, is \*extremely \*rare. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487/33 "2012-08-24T17:28:55Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Bloomberg said that Johnson began shooting at the officers outside the building after he killed his victim. So it’s possible he wounded some of the others, and the officers may have shot some of the others as they returned fire. Bloomberg says that. The news is saying it is unclear if he shot at the cops. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487/34 "2012-08-24T17:46:43Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Yes, that’s very graphic and a little surprising. [In case it gets changed later, it’s a picture of Johnson’s victim lying in a pool of blood on the street. It’s taken from several stories up.] > It’s a very safe city and there’s not a lot of shooting considering there are 8 million people here. And I don’t think most of those shootings happen right outside the Empire State Building. But other than that, yes, slow news month. :rolleyes: > > Bloomberg said that Johnson began shooting at the officers outside the building after he killed his victim. So it’s possible he wounded some of the others, and the officers may have shot some of the others as they returned fire. Right, a city of 8 million and a couple people got shot. Fortunately for the news, it happened in front of a famous landmark, I’ll grant you that. NYC still gets 400-500 homicides/year so over one person per day is getting murdered in NYC. Maybe those homicides aren’t all gun violence, but I’m guessing a stabbing spree in front of the ESB would make the news too. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487/35 "2012-08-24T17:56:49Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It’s a very safe city and there’s not a lot of shooting considering there are 8 million people here. On Sundays there’s a murder every hour there. I see documentaries about it on TBS. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487/36 "2012-08-24T18:25:16Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > The Onion had an article, yesterday I believe, whose headline was: Nation Celebrates Full Week Without A Deadly Mass Shooting. > > This morning, underneath it they wrote: Update: never mind. [8 people were shot in one incident](http://touch.chicagotribune.com/#story/chi-shootings-chicago-violence-august-23-august-24-violence-gunfire-20120823/) last night in Chicago; 19 overall last night in different incidents and 13 within a 30-minute period of time. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487/37 "2012-08-24T18:29:59Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > On Sundays there’s a murder every hour there. I see documentaries about it on TBS. Does it require taking a number and waiting until your designated hour? ---
**Author:** ![CoffinMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@CoffinMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoffinMan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487/38 "2012-08-24T18:49:31Z")
Folks do not need a gun, automatic or otherwise, to be a douchebag. [http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-06-08-stabbing-tokyo\_N.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-06-08-stabbing-tokyo_N.htm) Guy in tokyo with a knife, a truck and a poor attitude kills 7 before being taken down. A quote from the article regarding similar incidents in Japan where the general population are forbidden to own firearms: "Japan boasts a low crime rate compared to other industrialized nations and Tokyo, with a population of 12.7 million, is considered relatively safe. But stabbings, once rare in the country, have become more frequent in recent years. In March, one person was stabbed to death and at least seven others were hurt by a man who went on a slashing spree with two knives outside a shopping mall in eastern Japan. In January, a 16-year-old boy attacked five people in a shopping area, injuring two of them. A spate of knife attacks also have occurred in schools, the worst on June 8, 2001 when a man with a history of mental illness burst into elementary school near Osaka killing eight children. He was executed in 2004." ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487/39 "2012-08-24T18:53:00Z")
Cops shot a few bystanders. Must of been pretty chaotic. [http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US\_EMPIRE\_STATE\_BUILDING\_SHOOTING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-08-24-11-49-15](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_EMPIRE_STATE_BUILDING_SHOOTING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-08-24-11-49-15) > [@](#): > > Kelly said authorities believe police may be responsible for some of the injuries because of the limited capacity of the gunman’s weapon. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Doom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Dr\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487/40 "2012-08-24T19:18:22Z")
> [@CoffinMan](#): > > Folks do not need a gun, automatic or otherwise, to be a douchebag. > > [http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-06-08-stabbing-tokyo\_N.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-06-08-stabbing-tokyo_N.htm) > > Guy in tokyo with a knife, a truck and a poor attitude kills 7 before being taken down. > > A quote from the article regarding similar incidents in Japan where the general population are forbidden to own firearms: > > "Japan boasts a low crime rate compared to other industrialized nations and Tokyo, with a population of 12.7 million, is considered relatively safe. But stabbings, once rare in the country, have become more frequent in recent years. > > In March, one person was stabbed to death and at least seven others were hurt by a man who went on a slashing spree with two knives outside a shopping mall in eastern Japan. In January, a 16-year-old boy attacked five people in a shopping area, injuring two of them. > > A spate of knife attacks also have occurred in schools, the worst on June 8, 2001 when a man with a history of mental illness burst into elementary school near Osaka killing eight children. He was executed in 2004." Granted, but the dude can’t stab me from 40 feet away, so he’s somewhat less lethal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-reported-shot-in-front-of-empire-state-building/632487.md?page=3)