Thread: Gunman kills guard, then himself at federal immigration court

Gunman kills guard, then himself at federal immigration court


Gunman kills guard, then himself at federal building in SoHo

By Jamie Schram, Larry Celona, Shawn Cohen and Melkorka Licea

August 21, 2015 | 5:58pm

Police investigate the scene of the deadly shooting.Photo: Reuters

A security guard was fatally shot during a murder-suicide at a federal building in SoHo on Friday evening, sources told The Post.

The gunman shot 53-year-old Idrissa Camara, a guard who works for a private security contractor, at the building on 201 Varick Street around 4:45 p.m., the sources said.

The suspect, who was identified as 68-year-old Kevin Downing of Fort Lee, N.J., walked up to the guard, who told him to “wait a moment,” according to law enforcement sources.

Surveillance video shows the gunman pulling out his gun and shooting Camara once in the head before killing himself, the sources said.

The shooter then went toward the elevator bank and encountered another employee. At that point, he shot himself, police officials said.
The guard was rushed to Lenox Hill HealthPlex, where he was pronounced dead. The gunman was dead at the scene.

One witness saw the deranged man running diagonally across Hudson and King Streets.

“He was holding a gun and waving it around in front of him as cops were chasing him,” said Staten Island resident Michelle M., 33.

“When I saw him I just started running as fast as I could and didn’t look back. This has to be the most surreal thing that has ever happened to me and I’ve been living in New York all my life.”

As the incident unfolded, traffic was stopped outside the federal building, and drivers were ordered to get out of their cars and hide in a nearby office building, bystanders said.

http://nypost.com/2015/08/21/guard-s...court-in-soho/

Military veteran kills guard, then himself at federal building

By Jamie Schram, Larry Celona, Shawn Cohen and Melkorka Licea

August 21, 2015 | 5:58pm

A police vehicle at the scene of the deadly shootingPhoto: Splash News

A 68-year-old military veteran gunned down a security guard inside a Manhattan federal building on Friday — and then used the weapon to kill himself, law enforcement sources told The Post.

With a bag in hand, Kevin Downing of Fort Lee, N.J., walked into 201 Varick St. around 5:05 p.m. and approached 53-year-old Idrissa Camara, a guard who works for a private security contractor, near metal detectors in the lobby.

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Idrissa Camara, the security guard who was fatally shot, holding his daughter in an undated Facebook photo.

When Camara told the gunman he had to check his belongings, Downing dropped the bag and shot the guard once in the head with handgun, the sources said.

He then dashed through the security area, heading toward an elevator bank, where he another employee stopped him.

At that point he shot himself in the head, police officials said.

Downing was pronounced dead at the scene.

The guard, who lives in Harlem, was rushed to a Lenox Hill Hospital annex, where he later died.

A motive for the bloodbath was not immediately clear.

The federal building houses several offices, including a Veterans Health Administration office, Immigration Court, a U.S. Post Office and a federal detention center.

Camara worked for FJC Security Company, a private contractor hired by U.S. Marshals to provide security for the federal building, law enforcement sources said.

As the “active shooter” incident unfolded, police stopped traffic outside the federal building, and drivers were ordered to get out of their cars and hide in a nearby office building, bystanders said.

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Kevin Downing gunned down Idrissa Camara before turning the gun on himself.

Local business were also told to shutter until the area was secured.
“The police came in around 5:25 p.m. and told me to shut down my store and go outside,” said Mahesh Patel, a clerk at 206 Newstand Corp.

“I didn’t want to leave so I just locked the doors and sat for ten minutes until I saw other people were coming out.”

A neighbor who lives across the street from Downing in Fort Lee and has known him for many years said he was “a nice old man” who worked in real-estate, sometimes walked with a cane, and has lived alone since his wife died a few years ago.

“He always smiled, he was always in a good mood. I’m just surprised. Maybe he had a double personality or something,” said the woman, who declined to give her name.

“Nobody come over, no friends, he was always alone,” she said, adding that since Downing’s wife died the inside of his modest brick home was messy and cluttered with old newspapers and other debris.
She also said that he had recently been in a serious car accident.

http://nypost.com/2015/08/21/guard-s...court-in-soho/