Empire State Building shooting: All nine shooting victims hit by police bullets

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A New York Police officer directs pedestrians gathered near crime scene outside the Empire State Building on August 24, 2012 in New York City. A number of bystanders were also shot during the ensuing melee
Photographer: Mario Tama/Getty Images
Copyright Getty Images

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Posted: 08/25/2012

NEW YORK - Authorities are confirming that all nine bystanders caught in the crossfire of a shooting outside the Empire State Building were wounded by two veteran patrolmen who had never fired their weapons on duty.

Officer Craig Matthews fired seven times and Officer Robert Sinishtaj fired nine times at Jeffrey Johnson on bustling midtown block Friday morning after Johnson, who'd shot a former co-worker to death, brazenly pointed his pistol at the officers.

Police had said that nine others were wounded likely by stray or ricocheting police bullets, and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly confirmed that Saturday. He says that based on ballistic tests and other evidence, "it appears that all nine of the victims were struck either by fragments or by bullets fired by police."

Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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