Reports coming out of New York City are an armed man with a pistol opened fire on innocent bystanders at the Empire State Building at 9:03 a.m. Friday.

This was rush hour around one of the busiest tourist attractions in NYC.

Jeffrey Johnson, 58, was a disgruntled former employee of Hazan Imports. He had been fired from his position a year ago, but was in an ongoing legal battle with his former employer, and returned to his workplace and confronted Steve Ercolino, a 41-year-old co-worker.

Johnson, dressed in a business suit and carrying a briefcase, shot this man five times at close range with a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, killing him.

A construction worker followed Johnson and alerted police on guard at the near by Empire State Building who then confronted Johnson.

Johnson pulled his pistol from a bag he was carrying and fired on police.

NYPD officers returned fire killing Johnson.

As a result of this free-fire zone erupting on a busy NYC street, nine people were shot in addition to the victim and shooter. It’s likely some people were shot by police, but no injuries are reported to be life threatening.

What the hell is going on in America? We can’t seem to settle anything without gun violence. Whether that be war or workplace disagreements. This is the same kind of violent shift we have seen in our streets for decades now.

What used to be fist fights over girlfriends or shoes, today leaves young black kids dead on the ground. These days you downsize, lay a person off, or fire them for cause, managers might want to invest in a kevlar vest.

Regardless of whether some bystanders were shot inadvertently by police, major congrats go out to those officers for bringing Johnson down. This could have been much worse.

Imagine if you were a cop at 9:00 a.m. standing a post, drinking your coffee and easing into a Friday, then suddenly you’re taking gun fire at a tourist site.

Now that is a rough morning.

It’s amazing no one else was seriously injured.

“Blood everywhere in the streets of Manhattan.”

That is a quote I heard.

Welcome to the weekend.