by Jim Fitzgerald, Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - Three people were shot in an apparent murder-suicide in an office building near Times Square on Monday, police said.
The shooting at around 8:20 a.m. occurred at 1440 Broadway near 40th Street in a temporary office leased by Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, said Soraya Rodriguez, a company spokeswoman, who had no further details.
A police source, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said investigators considered it an apparent double murder and suicide, and were looking into the possibility that it was the shooter who called 911.
The conditions of the victims were not officially released, but Emergency Medical Service crews did not transport any of them to hospitals.
Kerin McCue, a news anchor at WOR-Radio, a tenant in the 25-story building, said building security instructed people on each floor to remain where they were.
The front of the building and a stretch of Broadway were blocked off with crime scene tape, preventing many people from getting to their jobs.
Margarita Pabon, of Woodbridge, N.J., who works in the billing department of Beth Israel Medical Center, said she has worked in the building for three years. “It’s scary,” she said. “It’s seemed like a safe building.”
Jennifer Montgomery of East Rockaway, said, “I’m concerned about security now. It just goes to show you anything can happen anywhere.”