Steven Ercolino, sales VP, reportedly identified as fatality in shooting near Empire State Building

By: Barry Leibowitz, Casey Glynn
Topics: Daily Blotter

Law enforcement near the covered body of suspected shooter 58-year-old Jeffery Johnson on 5th Ave. near the Empire State Building, Friday, August 24, 2012.

/ Andrew Kelly/Getty Images

(CBS/AP) NEW YORK - The man allegedly shot and killed by laid-off women's accessories designer Jeffrey Johnson near the Empire State building on Friday has been identified as Steven Ercolino, 41, reports the Associated Press.

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A man who answered the phone at the home of Ercolino's parents in the city's suburbs says "he was a good son."

Police haven't released Ercolino's name, but a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed his identity.

"He was an incredible family man, loved his family," a woman who identified herself as Ercolino's sister-in-law, Andrea, told the Wall Street Journal.

According to his LinkdIn profile, Ercolino was the Vice President of Sales at Hazan Import Corp., which is located at 10 West 33rd street in New York City.

Police killed the alleged suspect, Johnson, and at least nine other people were wounded, some possibly by police gunfire, city officials said at a press conference. Some of the wounded were grazed by bullets and others hit directly, and all were expected to survive, officials said.

Johnson, 58, was laid off about a year ago at Hazan Imports. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said he targeted the company's 41-year-old office manager Friday, shooting him three times, once in the head. The two had traded accusations of harassment when Johnson worked there, Kelly said. The shooting occurred on the street on the Fifth Avenue side of the Empire State Building.

Johnson walked away, and a construction worker who saw the shooting followed Johnson and alerted police, officials said. Surveillance video footage shows Johnson reaching into a bag, pulling out a .45-caliber pistol and pointing it at officers, Kelly said. The officers drew their weapons and started firing, killing Johnson, Kelly said.

The two officers fired a total of 14 rounds, he said. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said some of the nine wounded may have been shot by police in the mayhem. Johnson's semi-automatic weapon was equipped to fire at least eight rounds; at least one round was left in the clip, police said.

Johnson worked at the company for about six years and was laid off because of downsizing, Kelly said.

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by SofiaMog August 25, 2012 1:47 PM EDT: Perhaps whats most banal about the shoot out is that the inner working of Jeffreys Johnsons thoughts as he shot Steven Ercolino will never be known. Was this common man turning to extreme violence as a way to assert his independence, his individuality, to settle scores or maybe just to get his own 15 minutes of fame? Why did he not simply walk away and let it go? Why did he have to take this man's life? Why did he have to destroy his own? Was the shoot them up go to hell ending the wicked immortilization he desperately sought? What motivates our fellow human beings to such commit such montrous acts?...

Welcome to the bleak existences of another New Yorker who chose a tumultuous way out of life....But then again how close is anyone ever...

http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2012/08/video-graphic-last-moments-of-jeffrey-johnsons-life-blood-on-the-gutter/; Reply to this comment

by 45626 August 24, 2012 3:05 PM EDT

As the economy goes down this type of incident is going to be more common.

I have read several other articles relating to this event which seem to point the story toward guns and gun control. This incident isn't about guns, it's about people loosing their livelihood, about people not having a way to support their families and about those employers who do not take any responsibility for their workers.

I can only say if you are a person in a management position or a business owner, you should think twice before terminating people. Is there another position for them? Can you, the owner, take a little less pay home and lower your lifestyle?

So who is to blame for this sad indecent? Obviously the ex-employee, but just as much the company that terminated him.

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by Virilene August 24, 2012 4:06 PM EDT: @45626: You could not be more wrong about the instant case, and more generally about the likelihood of people caught up in the economic downturn resorting to violence. Your "comments", such as they are, are an obvious attempt to deflect attention from the glaring need for legislation and enforcement that would lessen the availability and circulation of firearms in this country.

According to published reports, the shooter/employee had been involved in a physical altercation with the victim/employer during his tenure with the company. Given that dynamic, it is no surprise that his employment had been terminated, economic downturn or not.

Stop covering for gun extremists who are terrorizing this country and contributing to the murder of innocent citizens in the name of 2nd Amendment extremist zealotry.