By Police1 Staff
NEW YORK — One of the bystanders who was wounded by police gunfire during Friday’s shooting at the Empire State Building defended the NYPD in a television interview Tuesday.
Tour guide supervisor Alberto Ramos was shot in the left foot as officers opened fire on Jeffrey Johnson, who allegedly killed his former coworker Steven Ercolino outside the city’s popular tourist attraction.
“I don’t blame the cops, not one bit,” Ramos told NBC New York.
Ramos said in the interview he was talking to a tour agent when he noticed Johnson approach the area. He turned his back and then heard police officers yelling — and saw Johnson holding a gun.
“As soon as I saw that handgun — you kind of freeze,” Ramos told the station. “You kind of know what’s coming next, and it’s nothing good, when someone raises his gun to an officer.”
Police fired a total of 16 rounds, some of which ricocheted and struck nine bystanders, and Ramos said one came close to hitting him in the head.
Ramos said he hopes to join the police force himself after recovering from his injury, which doctors said is looking good. His stepfather is retired from the NYPD.