Shooter at New York Federal Building Was Upset About Losing Government Job.
and is said to have suffered from other personal setbacks
The entrance on W. Houston St. where alleged shooter Kevin Downing entered the federal building and killed security guard Idrissa Camara, according to New York City police. Photo: Cassandra Giraldo for The Wall S for The Wall Street Journal By
Pervaiz Shallwani,
Mark Morales and
Joe Jackson Aug. 22, 2015 4:28 p.m. ET
The New Jersey man identified as the suspect in the shooting death of a security guard at a federal building in New York City on Friday was upset about losing his federal job years ago and suffered from financial problems and other personal setbacks, a local lawmaker and neighbors said on Saturday.
“His fiancée died of breast cancer. His house was in foreclosure. He was in a really nasty automobile accident,” said U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, a New Jersey Democrat whose office had spent about two years attempting to help Kevin Downing, the accused shooter.
Authorities said Mr. Downing, 68 years old, shot and killed Idrissa Camara, a 53-year-old security guard who had emigrated from Ivory Coast, at 201 Varick St. in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood before killing himself on Friday afternoon. No one else was injured during the incident.
In an interview on Saturday, Mr. Pascrell said he had seen no indication Mr. Downing was unstable, describing him as polite and thankful for his office’s help. “It was just a horrible tragedy,” he said. “I don’t know what made him snap.”
More than a decade ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics terminated his employment because, Mr. Downing alleged, he informed members of Congress that the agency was closing its New York regional office without justification, records show.
In an unsuccessful appeal of his termination, Mr. Downing called the closure of the New York office unnecessary and expensive and charged it would negatively impact the agency’s ability to accomplish its mission, records show. He argued the office’s closure demonstrated an abuse of authority because New York employees were disadvantaged with regard to promotions and reassignments.
Mr. Pascrell said on Saturday he had been attempting to get Mr. Downing another job in the federal government because “he had a good record.” In March 2013, Mr. Pascrell wrote a job recommendation letter on his behalf.
“This guy got a raw deal,” Mr. Pascrell said. “This guy got shafted.”
In a 2004 decision, the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, an independent and quasi-judicial agency that hears allegations of wrongful termination, dismissed Mr. Downing’s case and his claims that he deserved whistleblower protection. The board determined Mr. Downing merely disagreed with management’s decision to close the office.
An official from the Bureau of Labor Statistics couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
John Miller, deputy commissioner for counterterrorism and intelligence at the New York Police Department, said on Friday that Mr. Downing’s dispute over the loss of his job was being investigated as a potential motive.
‘His fiancée died of breast cancer. His house was in foreclosure. He was in a really nasty automobile accident.’ —U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, D., NJ.
According to a law-enforcement official who said there is video of the entire incident, Mr. Downing entered 201 Varick St. at about 5 p.m. local time and approached the magnetometer and X-ray machine at the security station in the building’s lobby. As he entered the magnetometer, it signaled, prompting Mr. Camara, who was working an overtime shift, to ask Mr. Downing to back up for a bag search, the official said.
As Mr. Downing backed up, he pulled out a revolver, firing it once, striking Mr. Camara in the left side of the head, the official said. Mr. Camara was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
After the shooting, Mr. Downing continued to walk through the lobby toward the elevator bank at which point he came in brief contact with someone who knew him, the law-enforcement official said.
That person was a 71-year-old man who works for the federal Department of Labor. He told investigators he had taken the elevator to the lobby and when the doors opened heard what he believed to be a gunshot, the official said.
As the man looked to his left, he saw the security guard on the ground moaning, “Oh my God, oh my God,” the official said. The man told investigators he saw Mr. Downing with a revolver in his hand, the official added.
The man, then, stepped back into the elevator when he heard what he thought was a second shot, the official said. That second firing would have been the suicide shot.
Facebook photo of shooting victim Idrissa Camara, confirmed by neighbors. Photo: UNCREDITED
The law-enforcement official said Mr. Downing placed the black revolver with a wooden handle to his chin and fired. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Louis La Mastro, who lives near Mr. Downing in Fort Lee, NJ, and saw him occasionally, described Mr. Downing as a “quiet guy, a loner.” Another neighbor said Mr. Downing planned to sell his home and relocate because the area was too expensive.
Mr. Downing had complained about being out of work previously, but had been working as a realtor more recently, the neighbor said. The neighbor confirmed he had an accident involving a car that left him limping.
When Mr. Downing’s fiancée had been alive, she had been the main earner for them both, the neighbor said. When she got sick, Mr. Downing cared for her diligently, the neighbor said. And when she died, he had to start working and struggled, the neighbor added.
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