NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- The NYPD on Friday released body camera footage showing the moments before and after police shot and killed a gunman who opened fire outside a Manhattan cathedral after a Christmas concert in December.
Three officers fired a total of 14 shots at Luis Vasquez, 52, around 3:45 p.m. on Dec. 13 after he pulled out two semiautomatic pistols and began shooting into the air on the steps leading up to the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights.
One of their bullets hit Vasquez in the head, the NYPD said. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
The shooting happened shortly after a “Carols for the Community” concert took place on the steps of the cathedral, police said.
Spectators who had watched the concert from the street and sidewalks outside the cathedral had been invited inside after the performance, according to police.
Vasquez was among a few dozen people who had formed a line to enter the building when he pulled the two guns out of his jacket, walked to the center of the steps and started shooting, the NYPD said.
Surveillance video and body camera footage shows spectators fleeing the steps after hearing the gunshots. None of them were injured, the NYPD said.
Witnesses said Vasquez was yelling “kill me” at police as he fired his guns.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea in December said police recovered a bag containing a gasoline can, rope, wire, several knives, tape and a Bible from Vasquez at the scene.
“I think we can all surmise the ill intentions of the proceeds of this bag,” he said at the time.
After he died, law enforcement officials found a note in Vasquez’ pocket saying he planned to take cathedral-goers hostage until the U.S. agreed to provide money to the poor in Latin America, NBC New York reported.
Vasquez’ sister told the New York Times he had struggled with mental health issues after he was imprisoned in the 1990s following several arrests.
“After he came out of jail, he was not the same,” she said. “And I think this year being in isolation, he just lost it. But my brother is no terrorist.”