On a bustling Friday morning in Manhattan, the life of 41-year-old Steven Mario Ercolino was brought to a tragic and violent end. On August 24, 2012, Ercolino, a vice president of sales at Hazan Import Corporation, was ambushed by a disgruntled former co-worker on the sidewalk near the iconic Empire State Building. The male victim was a graduate of the State University of New York at Oneonta and was remembered by loved ones as a gregarious and outgoing family man.
The man who ended his
life was 58-year-old Jeffrey Johnson, a women's accessories designer who had been laid off from the same company about a year prior. Johnson harbored a deep-seated animosity towards Ercolino, blaming him for his job loss. This animosity had festered for some time, with the two men having previously filed harassment complaints against each other. Friends and sources indicated that Johnson had even threatened to kill Ercolino more than a year before the fatal encounter.
On that fateful morning, Johnson waited for Ercolino to arrive at work. Just after 9 a.m., he confronted him and, without warning, fired a. 45-caliber handgun at him multiple times at point-blank range. After Ercolino fell to the ground, Johnson stood over him and fired several more shots. The brazen attack sent shockwaves through the busy midtown streets, causing chaos as bystanders scrambled for safety.
Following the shooting, Johnson calmly walked away from the scene, but his escape was short-lived. A construction worker who witnessed the horrific event followed him and alerted nearby police officers. When the officers confronted Johnson, he drew his weapon, prompting them to open fire. Johnson was killed in the ensuing shootout. The police response, while swift, also resulted in nine bystanders being wounded by stray bullets and ricocheting debris, though none of their injuries were life-threatening. Johnson's actions ensured that the full measure of the law for his crime would never be rendered in a courtroom. The case was closed with his death, leaving a trail of grief and trauma in its wake.
