Mom of Empire State shooter doesnt blame police for killing son
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 24: A man and a New York City Police officer cross a shutdown section of Fifth Avenue in front of the Empire State Building after a shooting August 24, 2012 in New York City. Police said 58-year-old Jeffrey Johnson shot and killed Steven Ercolino, the 41-year-old vice president of Hazan Imports and a former co-worker of the shooter during an altercation at 10 W. 33rd St. with a .45 caliber handgun.
The mother of the Empire State Building shooter Jeffrey T. Johnson said she doesn't blame police for the death of her son.
“I don’t blame police in New York for shooting my son because he killed somebody, but for me, he hasn’t changed," Johnson told the New York Times.
He’s still the kindhearted, caring person who loved all kinds of animals and I’m sure he loved us,” she said. “You know a mother always tries to look for the best in you.”
More from GlobalPost: NYPD: Bystanders at Empire State shooting hit with police rounds
58-year-old Johnson allegedly shot and killed his former co-worker, Steven Ercolino at the Empire State Building in Midtown New York last Friday before police killed him in a shootout that injured nine others, according to the Associated Press.
Johnson, a women's accessories designer, had worked at Hazan Imports but was laid off about a year ago, AP reported.
The interview with the Times paints a picture of a man desperately lonely, out of work, with a tragic childhood.
Johnson's mother said in sixth grade he was hit by a car and sustained a head trauma that almost killed him. More recently, his cat Romeo died in his arms. He wrote to his mother that his “life has been diminished tenfold.”
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