The guard was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital suffering from cardiac arrest, a spokesman for the fire department said.
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It was not immediately clear what motivated the shooting. They say the guard had a weapon but it doesn’t appear he was able to fire.
A police official identified the gunman as Kevin Downing, a man in his late 60s from Fort Lee, New Jersey. O’Neill says at that point, the gunman shot and killed himself.
Traffic in the area of 201 Varick St. was blocked off as police arrived on the scene earlier Friday afternoon.
At a news conference, New York police said only the shooter was dead.
A police helicopter was flying over the building as officers closed streets surrounding it after the shooting.
“We don’t know what his target was,” O’Neill said.
Miller said Downing had left his government job “some time ago”.
Downing previously worked for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Police investigators are working on a preliminary identification of the gunman, O’Neill said. The employee, who is not a guard, was unhurt. “For now, we are keeping Camara’s family and loved ones in our thoughts and prayers”.
