Update 16.04

THE NEW YORK Police Department has confirmed that up to ten people have been injured and two killed during a shooting outside the Empire State Building in Manhattan this morning.

A spokesperson told TheJournal.ie that investigations were underway and there is a heavy police presence at the scene. The suspected perpetrator has been shot dead by a police officer who was on the scene.

The injured have been removed to three different hospitals in the area. The NYPD said all injuries were not necessarily from gunshot wonds.

Mayor Bloomberg has said that it appears that a disgruntled employee who was fired yesterday returned to his former workplace and shot the manager in the head. It’s believed the manager is the second person who was killed.

The shooting occurred at 34th Street and Fifth Avenue. Gunshots were heard at 9am by people arriving to work in local offices.

An eye-witness who works at a nearby office told TheJournal.ie that a number of blocks have been closed off and the body of a man is lying outside a building on West 33rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenue, near the Empire State Building. She said he appeared to have a gunshot wound to the head.

According to ABC News, the FBI has said that the shooting was not an act of terror or related to terrorism. It is understood from preliminary reports that the incident appears to have started after a work-place dispute.

- Additional reporting by Emer McLysaght