NEW YORK — The NYPD released chilling body camera footage Friday that shows officers responding to a crazed gunman who opened fire on the steps of a Manhattan Church last December during a Christmas celebration.
Following a Christmas Carols concert on the steps of Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine around 4 p.m., police say Luis Vasquez, 52, pulled out two handguns and started shooting into the air wildly as bystanders ran for their lives.
Vasquez could be heard shouting, “kill me, kill me,” before he was fatally shot on the steps of the cathedral, Law Officer reported in December.
A detective, a sergeant, and a police officer who were nearby immediately responded and engaged the suspect.
“Drop the gun! Drop the gun! Drop it,” Office Daurys Gutierrez can be heard continually screaming at Vasquez on his body camera, Fox News reported.
Gutierrez fired two shots, while Detective Specialist Jason Harper fired nine rounds and Sgt. Kensington Cunningham fired three times.
Vasquez was struck one time in the head and taken to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital where he was pronounced dead. He fired a total of five shots, Fox reported.
New York Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said that the man was carrying a bag with some disturbing contents, including a can of gasoline, rope, wire, tape, knives and a Bible.
WATCH NYPD BRIEFING/VIDEO
No bystanders were hurt in the shooting.
“It was just beautiful, and then at the end this person started shooting. Everybody is in shock,” Lisa Schubert, a cathedral spokeswoman who witnessed the shooting, 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.”
