Police shoot dead gunman who opened fire outside NYC’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine

Police fatally shoot gunman who opened fire during Christmas concert on front steps of Manhattan’s St. John the Divine Cathedral

  • A gunman opened fire on the front steps of St. John the Divine Cathedral  in Harlem during a Christmas show with singing carolers around 3.45pm
  • He was reportedly ‘firing into the air’, but no one was injured in the shooting
  • The gunman was shot by responding officers, hospitalized and died from his wounds, NYPD tells DailyMail.com 
  • City councilman Mark D. Levine said the man appeared to be mentally ill
  • He said the man climbed the church’s scaffolding shouting that he wanted to be killed and fired ‘indiscriminately in the air’

Police fatally shot a gunman who opened fire in front of a New York City cathedral during a Christmas concert on Sunday allegedly yelling that he wanted to be killed.

The man, who has not been identified, fired shots on the front steps of St. John the Divine Cathedral in Harlem during a Christmas concert with carolers where hundreds of people had gathered around 3.45pm.

He was reportedly ‘firing into the air’, but no one was injured in the shooting, police say. 

The gunman was shot by responding officers, hospitalized and died from his wounds, New York City Police tell DailyMail.com.

Mark D. Levine, a city councilman who represents the district where the church is located, said the gunman appeared to be mentally ill and climbed scaffolding of the church before firing ‘indiscriminately in the air’, shouting that he wanted to be killed.  

A gunman was shot dead by responding officers after he opened fire on the front steps of St. John the Divine Cathedral in Harlem during a Christmas show with singing carolers around 3.45pm 

The gunman was shot by responding officers, hospitalized and died from his wounds, New York City Police tell DailyMail.com.

The gunman was shot by responding officers, hospitalized and died from his wounds, New York City Police tell DailyMail.com.

The gunman was reportedly 'firing into the air', but no one was injured in the shooting, police say. Officers pictured moving in on the scene of the shooting on Sunday

The gunman was reportedly ‘firing into the air’, but no one was injured in the shooting, police say. Officers pictured moving in on the scene of the shooting on Sunday

New York police officers pictured carring the gunman on a stretcher down the steps of St. John the Divine on Sunday after he opened fire

New York police officers pictured carring the gunman on a stretcher down the steps of St. John the Divine on Sunday after he opened fire 

When shots rang out the terrorized crowd fled from the church, located on West 112th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, and ran for cover behind cars and trees

When shots rang out the terrorized crowd fled from the church, located on West 112th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, and ran for cover behind cars and trees

When shots rang out the terrorized crowd fled from the church, located on West 112th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, and ran for cover behind cars.

Police arrived outside of the church and ordered him to stand down. 

A responding Emergency Services Unit officer allegedly shot the gunman and he was hospitalized at Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital where he died.

Police officers pictured moving in on the shooting scene in Harlem on Sunday

Police officers pictured moving in on the shooting scene in Harlem on Sunday

People pictured running into the street after shots were fired on Sunday

People pictured running into the street after shots were fired on Sunday

Police recovered two guns from the scene. The taped off shooting scene pictured above

Police recovered two guns from the scene. The taped off shooting scene pictured above

‘He was shooting it up in the air and toward police,’ a high-ranking department source said to the New York Post.    

Police recovered two guns from the scene, according to the New York Daily News.

The church had hosted its special Christmas carol performance on its front steps at 3pm, the first public event since the pandemic.