In an interview Saturday afternoon, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, said his office had no hint that Kevin Downing, 68, who for 16 years had pursued a whistleblower complaint over losing his federal job, was capable of murderous rage.
Advertisement
“Camara… was an extraordinary Senior Guard who was well trained, cared deeply about his job and knew that building better than anyone else”, said Michael McKeon, a spokesman for the security company.
The shooting occurred shortly after 5 p.m.in the lobby of the building at 201 Varick St. near West Houston Street, police said.
The Varick Street building where the shooting occurred holds a regional office of the Department of Labor.
“We felt that this person had been given a raw deal to put it mildly and that there was no excuse for it and he had been treated very badly”, Pascrell said.
The shooting will be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to Kelly Langmesser, a spokeswoman for the agency’s New York office.
The NYPD was working closely with the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and other authorities to determine the suspect’s motive, O’Neill said.
Downing’s house in Fort Lee, New Jersey, had been secured, but not yet searched, O’Neill said.
“None of this at all ever indicated to any of us that this was going to happen”, Mr Pascrell said.
He said the caseworker described Downing as “always polite and “always thankful”.
Miller said Downing had also collected Veterans Affairs benefits, but investigators were unsure which branch of the armed service he served in. As he approached the metal detector in the security screening area, the male immediately pulled out a gun and shot the security guard at close range.
Final yr, the Nationwide Taxpayers Union, a taxpayer advocacy group, wrote a weblog concerning the case, referring to Downing as a former economist and knowledge collector on the Labor Division who had been fired after allegedly complaining about extreme spending.
Advertisement
In a 2012 letter, Rothman asked U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis to examine Downing’s complaint. “Federal employees should not live in fear that they will be terminated for seeking a more effective and efficient government”.
