NEW YORK (Reuter) - A gunman killed one person and wounded seven others on the crowded 86th-floor observation deck of the Empire State Building Sunday before turning the pistol on himself, police said.
The dead person was the intended target and the gunman was in critical condition at Bellevue Hospital, according to police. No further information about the victims and their relationship to the gunman was released.
The shooting occurred about 5 p.m. EST and sent hundreds of tourists on the 86th floor of the skyscraper scattering for safety. Witnesses said they dived to the floor as bursts of fire rang out.
A St. Vincent's Hospital spokesman said three people wounded in the shootings were being treated there. He said two of them were French nationals, and that they were in serious condition.
The hospital spokesman also said witnesses to the incident were being treated for emotional trauma.
A one-block area surrounding the Empire State Building at Fifth Avenue and 34th Street in midtown Manhattan was blocked off as dozens of ambulances from area hospitals, police and fire trucks converged on the area.
The Empire State Building, which opened in 1931, is one of New York City's top tourist attractions, and at 1,250 feet high it ranked for years as the world's tallest building.
It has been featured in hundreds of movies, including the famous climactic scene of the film classic, "King Kong," in which the giant ape clung to its side as he battled a squadron of attacking planes.