NYT: 2 Killed as Gunman Opens Fire at N.Y. City Council Chambers

[Raster]

By DANIEL J. WAKIN

Shots were fired in City Hall this afternoon, killing Councilman James E. Davis and another man, city officials said. Other council members dived beneath their desks amid screams in the barrage of gunfire, and police officers swarmed into the building in search of the assailant.

The shots were fired in the balcony of the City Council chamber, which is on the second floor, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

Mayor Bloomberg was in his office area on the other side of City Hall and was not hurt.

``It is not terrorism,'' Mayor Bloomberg said. ``It appears to be a random act.'' He told reporters, ``This is a terrible attack, not just on two people - and they are in our prayers - but this is an attack on democracy.''

Councilman David I. Weprin said he saw what appeared to be a bullet wound to the chest of Mr. Davis as emergency workers performed cardio-pulmonary resuscitation on him.

<snip>

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/23/nyregion/23WIRE-HALL.html?hp

[J B]

1. Check Drudge's Wash Post link. This NYT story's wrong

a) The aide killed and the assailant are one in the same. The aide was a political rival for Davis who came to work for him, and, hence, as an employee, could completely bypass security.

b) A security guard or police officer shot and killed the aforementionned gunman, best I can tell.

At least that's how it looks to me.

[pschoeb]

2. Here's more on shooting and assailant

Othniel Boaz Askew was the assailant, and also former challenger to Davis, but he dropped out of the race and had joined Davis's campaign.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/07/23/national1713EDT0749.DTL

Patrick Schoeb

[Judi Lynn]

3. Another new article says a cop shot the assaillant

2 shot dead in New York council chambers


Associated Press
July 23, 2003


NEW YORK -- A gunman who managed to bring a weapon into City Hall opened fire inside City Council chambers this afternoon, killing a councilman who has crusaded against urban violence. A plainclothes police officer shot and killed the assailant, police sources said.

Brooklyn Councilman James Davis, a former police officer, died after being shot twice in the chest, a city official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

His killer died a short time later at New York University Downtown Medical Center, according to police sources. The two mortally wounded men were found lying side by side in the balcony overlooking the chambers, where eyewitnesses said the gunman opened fire.

The shooter was a political opponent of Davis, and had accompanied the councilman into the building before the shooting, a police source said. The gunman's ties to the councilman apparently allowed him to bypass security, the source said. (snip)

http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/2/060075-2212-093.html

Another new one:

(snip) Crown Heights activist killed

A New York City Council member who worked to improve black-Jewish ties was killed in a shooting at New York City Hall. An unknown gunman opened fire from a balcony overlooking the City Council chambers Wednesday, striking James Davis twice in the chest. Davis, 41, an African American and former police officer, had crusaded against urban violence and held an annual memorial for a black boy and a yeshiva student killed in 1991 in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood. “As one who knows the work of James Davis, I know what a special soul he is,” said Rabbi Avi Weiss, national president of Amcha-Coalition for Jewish Concerns. Weiss, who was in Jerusalem, said he would pray for Davis at the Western Wall. Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, called Davis’ killing “a tragedy for all New Yorkers. (snip/...)

http://www.jta.org/brknews.asp?id=71097

[MrMonk]

4. Apparently, the killer was the man previously identified as an aide.