The Empire State Building shooter was forced out of his Upper East Side apartment Friday, the same day he killed a former co-worker outside the city landmark. Jeffrey Johnson reportedly had blamed his target, Steven Ercolino, for not doing a good enough job selling his designs for Hazan Imports, which in turn laid him off.
The New York Post said that Johnson, now out of work and short of money, was then evicted from the one-bedroom co-op he rented on the Upper East Side. “This was the final straw that pushed him over the edge,” a police source told the Post.
But the New York Daily News disputed that report and said the apartment owner had merely asked Johnson to temporarily move out while he renovated the co-op. The Daily News’ police source said he was not being evicted and indicated that he did not appear to be enraged by the move. “I’m not going to be back after Friday anyway,” Johnson reportedly told the superintendent upon returning his keys. [Post] and [NYDN] — Adam Fusfeld