Empire State Building Shooting: Bystanders to Sue New York City for NYPD Shooting

Robert Asika, 24 and Mark Logosou,35 two bystanders shot by the NYPD during the Empire State building shooting incident in August filed a notice of claim with the New York City comptroller, an indication of a possible lawsuit against the city.

The lawyer of the victims, Michael S. Lamonsoff told NewsDay, "If 16 bullets are excessive or the manner of discharge not accurate enough then certainly we should take a look at training given to police," insinuating a possible lawsuit. The two bystander shot by the NYPD suffered non-life threatening injuries.

The NYPD stands by its officers telling the newspaper that the police shootings were as per protocol.  And those "wounded and grazed," as per NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly according to a New York Times article was an unfortunate, but inevitable, byproduct of the incident.

On August 24, 58-year-old Jeffrey Johnson, a former designer of lady's accessories at Hazan Imports, who was laid off last year, opened fire at his former supervisor Steven Ercolino, the company's Vice President and shot him to death.

Apparently the two former co-workers were on animus terms with one another. According to USA Today "They each accused each other of harassment."  The NYPD received calls about a shooting on 34th and Fifth Avenue at 9.07am Friday and arrived on the location within seven minutes. The shooter began shooting at the crowd, not particularly directed towards anyone.

The police fired as many as 16 shots, before shooting down Johnson. The remaining nine victims have incurred injuries as a result of the police firing. The nine victims were taken to hospitals, none have incurred severe damages and all are expected to survive. The nine victims consisted of two women and seven men. It is still unclear whether the remaining victims will join Asika and Logossou in a class action lawsuit.

The shooter was armed with .45 Caliber pistol. Initially, Mayor Bloomberg said that NYPD "returned fire," as reported by the New York Times, implying that Johnson was firing at the police, however, NYPD confirmed that Johnson did not open fire at the cops.

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