
AUGUST 22, 2015, 6:03 PM LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015, 12:29 AM
BY CHRISTOPHER MAAG AND MARINA VILLENEUVE
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD
One day after authorities say Fort Lee resident Kevin Downing shot a security guard and then himself inside a federal building in Manhattan, a contradictory image emerged Saturday of Downing as a man by turns warm, sad, distant and obsessed, an Army veteran whose once-bright future gradually dimmed in a series of personal setbacks.
In the late 1990s, Downing was fired after working briefly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, instigating a 16-year campaign in which he accused the agency of retaliating against him for acting as a whistle-blower. The agency has offices in the same building where the shooting occurred, leading many to believe the attackwas related to Downing’s long-simmering complaints.
The FBI, New York Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security have released little information about the investigation. All the agencies declined to comment Saturday on motives or details in the case.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/rep-pascrell-discusses-his-office-s-role-in-dealing-with-n-y-c-shooter-from-fort-lee-1.1396875
Kelly: Call to newsroom gave no hint at violence
AUGUST 23, 2015 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015, 12:36 AM
BY MIKE KELLY
RECORD COLUMNIST |
THE RECORD
On an otherwise ordinary Wednesday morning in April, my phone rang.
Kevin Downing of Fort Lee was on the line with a cry for help and a story of hardship — a story I had no idea would take a deadly turn four months later.
Without any apparent warning, Downing, 68, walked into a federal office building in lower Manhattan on Friday, and fatally shot a security guard. Moments later, Downing turned his gun on himself.
This is every journalist’s nightmare — an out-of-the blue phone call from someone who seems entirely rational at the time, yet is harboring a deep and hidden pain that could one day explode into violence.
It is the kind of nightmare that many others face, too — from parents, coaches and teachers to cops, clergy, health care professionals and even mayors and lawmakers. In short, anyone whose job involves listening to someone with a problem.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/kelly-call-to-newsroom-gave-no-hint-at-violence-1.1396879