assistance probably also saved lives. new york city as you know is the safest big city in the country and we are on pace to have a record low number of murders this year, but we are not immune to the national problem of gun violence. let me turn it over to commissioner kelly. thank you mr. mayor. i want to stress that what we have is preliminary information and there is an ongoing investigation of course. at 9:03 this morning, in front of 10 west 33rd street a disgruntled former employee of a company at that address shot and killed a former coworker, striking him three times. the subject, jeffery johnson, age 53, then fled eastbound on west 33rd street to 5th avenue when he walked northbound along the curbline with a .45 caliber handgun secreted in a black bag that he had under his
the curb line with a .45 caliber handgun secreted in a black bag he had under his arm. a construction worker, who had followed johnson from west 33rd street, alerted two uniformed police officers who were on post in front of the empire state building s 5th avenue entrance as part of our counterterrorism coverage. as the two officers approached johnson, he pulled hi his .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol from his bag and fired on the officers, who returned fire, killing him. an additional nine individuals were either wounded or grazed during the exchange, six of whom were removed to bellevue hospital, and three all are not likely to die. johnson had been employed for six years at hazan imports, a