Gunfire Atop N.Y. Landmark Palestinian Kills Man, Self As Tourists Flee Empire State Building In Terror

A gunman fired into a crowd of tourists on the observation deck of the Empire State Building on Sunday, killing one person and wounding six others before fatally shooting himself in the head.

Ali Abu Kamal, 69, died without regaining consciousness five hours after the shootings, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s press office said.

His passport said he was a Palestinian from Ramallah, on Israel’s West Bank, who had come to the United States on Christmas Eve, Giuliani said.

Witnesses said dozens of people - many of them foreign tourists - fled in panic toward stairways and elevators as Abu Kamal sprayed bullets on the outdoor deck that surrounds a large, windowed room on the 86th floor.

“I’ve never seen so much blood in my life,” said Belgian businessman Stef Nys, who said he saw the man shoot himself and fall, his dentures popping loose. “The most scary part was when people started to panic.”

The man muttered something about Egypt seconds before he began shooting about 5 p.m. on the observation deck of one of the world’s best-known tourist sites, witnesses said.

Abu Kamal used a .380-caliber handgun that he apparently had bought in Florida at the end of January, Giuliani said.

Police aren’t sure of the significance of his remarks about Egypt. A city police terrorist task force and FBI agents are investigating, Giuliani said.

Police Commissioner Howard Safir said the gunman apparently acted alone.

The other dead man was a 27-year-old Danish musician visiting the Empire State Building with an American friend from Connecticut, who was also wounded, Giuliani said.

The others wounded included a French couple from Verdun, whose 16-year-old daughter escaped injury; a 30-year-old Swiss man; an Argentinian man, 52; and a man from the Bronx. One of the wounded men was shot in the head, while others were less seriously hurt.

Two children were hurt when they were knocked from parents’ arms and four women suffered minor injuries in the rush to the exit.

“I’d been out there about one minute when I heard what I thought to be firecrackers,” said David Robinson, a tourist from England. “Then everyone started panicking.”

A French family, Jean-Luec Will, 40, his wife, Catherine, and two sons, 10 and 13, said they had just arrived at the Empire State Building on the second day of a trip to New York.

“I heard a loud popping noise,” Will said. “I thought at first it was little child playing with fireworks. There was one shot, then two or three seconds passed then three shots, pop, pop, pop.”

Gerard Guntner, 43, of Jersey City, N.J., said he tried to help a man with a bullet wound in the head on the deck by cradling his head in towels.

“He was bleeding profusely. He was coughing blood. I took the towels and wrapped them around his head. I just said, ‘Hang in there.”’ Guntner said. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”

Empire State Building spokesman Howard Rubenstein said security cameras filmed the gunman riding an escalator to the elevator entrance after he bought a ticket in the ground floor lobby.

“He had a long coat and the gun was under his coat. You couldn’t see it,” Rubenstein said. The tape was turned over to police.

The Empire State Building is one of the most loved and admired tall buildings in the world. The 102-story skyscraper opened May 1, 1931, and reigned for decades as the world’s tallest until 1972, when it was overtaken by the World Trade Center’s twin towers.

The graceful tower in midtown Manhattan remains one of the best-known symbols of New York and is especially popular with the thousands of foreign tourists visiting the city each year.

Standing 1,250 feet - 1,472 feet with its spire - the building has been the site for hundreds of scenes in movies like “King Kong,” “An Affair to Remember” and “Sleepless in Seattle.” It also is noted for the lighting that bathes its granite sides in various colors to commemorate the seasons, holidays or special events. On Sunday, the lighting was allwhite.

Visitors buy a ticket in the lobby and ride elevators to the 86th floor deck. They are not routinely subjected to metal detectors or searches.

Skies were clear, visibility from the deck was about 10 miles and temperatures were in the 40s.

Leona Helmsley, whose real estate company manages the Empire State Building, said the firm would pay for families of victims to be flown to New York.

“We will do everything possible to lighten their burden during this terrible time,” Helmsley said through Rubenstein.