A gunman shot and killed a security guard at a federal building in Lower Manhattan Friday afternoon and then shot himself to death, officials said. The incident unfolded at 5:10 p.m. in the lobby of the building on Varick Street.
A police source the shooter, a 68-year-old man from Fort Lee, NJ, walked into the building and encountered a line. After that, he opened fire, hitting the guard, a private contractor, in the upper body. The contractor was rushed to Lenox Hill Healthplex in traumatic arrest and later died.
The shooter was pronounced dead at the scene, the source said.
WABC PHOTO: Aerial scene of a shooting at 201 Varick St. in New York City.
The FBI and NYPD were trying to determine the motive for the shooting and if the victim was targeted.
The building houses, among other things, a post office and immigration court.