Gunman shot dead by police at NYC cathedral after concert

A man was fatally shot by police on the steps of a landmark New York City cathedral on Sunday after he began firing two semiautomatic handguns at the end of a Christmas choral concert, police said.

The gunfire began just before 4pm ET (21:00 GMT) at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, mother church of the Episcopal Diocese of New York.

A 45-minute concert held on the cathedral steps had just concluded and a crowd of several hundred people was drifting away when the gunman started shooting, sending people running down Amsterdam Avenue screaming and diving to the sidewalk.

A detective, a sergeant and a police officer who were at the event fired 15 rounds, killing the man, New York Police Commissioner Dermot Shea told reporters following the late-afternoon violence on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

“It is by the grace of God today,” he said, that no one besides the gunman was struck.

The suspect, who could not be identified immediately, was struck at least once in the head during the gun battle and was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Everybody ‘in shock’

The gunman was dressed in black with his face obscured by a white baseball cap and a face mask. He held a silver pistol in one hand and a black one in the other as he stepped from behind a stone column at the top of the staircase.

Witnesses told police the man was yelling “kill me” as he fired, Shea said.

The man had a lengthy criminal history and was carrying a backpack containing a can of petrol, rope, wire, tape, knives and a well-worn Bible, Shea said. The police commissioner called the actions of the officers “heroic”.

“I think we can all surmise the ill intentions of the proceeds of this bag,” Shea said.

It was not clear if the gunman was aiming at people or firing in the air.

Before the gunfire began, the concert featured members of the cathedral choir standing far apart on the stone steps wearing masks because of the coronavirus pandemic. The event was attended by some 200 people.

“It was just beautiful, and then at the end, this person started shooting. Everybody is in shock,” a cathedral spokeswoman, Lisa Schubert, told The New York Times.

“The shooter could have killed a lot of people. There were hundreds of people here and he shot at least 20 times.”

“It is horrible that our choir’s gift to New York City, a much-needed afternoon of song and unity, was cut short by this shocking act of violence,” cathedral spokeswoman Iva Benson said by email.

Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Twitter that “quick action of our NYPD officers kept the crowd safe”.

The cathedral is one of the world’s largest. Its construction began in 1892 and is still incomplete. It has been connected to many New York luminaries and notable events over its long history.