NEW YORK (AP) – New York City officials say a laid-off women’s accessories designer shot and killed co-worker outside the Empire State Building, then got in a shootout with police.

Fifty-three-year-old Jeffrey Johnson opened fire with a .45-caliber pistol at about 9 a.m. Friday on the Fifth Avenue side of the building. He was shot dead by police.

Nine others were hit by gunfire. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that some of the victims may have been hit by police bullets. The victims are expected to survive.

Johnson was laid off about a year ago from a company housed in the Empire State Building.

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