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New York Police Department Commissioner Dermot Shea said no one was injured during the shooting on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan.
Police are seen outside the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York on December 13, 2020, after a shooter opened fire outside the church before police responded and detained the man. Image: AFP.
NEW YORK, United States – Police shot and killed a man after he opened fire near crowds that had gathered to watch Christmas carols sing outside a New York church on Sunday.
New York Police Department Commissioner Dermot Shea said no one was injured during the shooting on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan.
Three police officers fired a total of 15 shots at the man, Shea told reporters.
“The defendant was hit on the head at least once and has died,” he said.
Police recovered two guns from the scene and a nearby bag that had a container full of gasoline, rope, wire, and several knives.
An AFP journalist who witnessed the incident said she saw the man shooting from the church steps as a few hundred people began to disperse when the open-air choral concert ended shortly before 4:00 pm (2100 GMT).
“I heard two or three explosions that were really loud,” he said. “I looked up and maybe ten meters from me on the stairs there was a guy shooting.
“I saw the bursts of shots coming out of the gun and I started to run away. I just ran for my life.”
Witness Martha Stolley said the man fired eight to 10 shots before a police officer shot him.
“He was shooting without targeting anyone,” he told AFP, adding that the man was shouting “Shoot me, kill me.
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