Transcript: Mayor de Blasio, Commissioner O'Neill Hold Media Availability at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital

June 30, 2017

Mayor Bill de Blasio: We've had a real tragedy here in the Bronx this afternoon. It's something we've seen around the country, and now we've experienced it here. The tragedy occurred in Bronx-Lebanon Hospital. I want to say at the outset, thank God this was not an act of terrorism. It is an isolated incident. It appears to be a workplace-related matter, but that makes it no less tragic or no less horrible.

One doctor is dead and there are several doctors who are fighting for their lives right now amongst those who are wounded. As you know, the shooter killed himself, but not before having done horrible damage. Our hearts go out to the family of the doctor who passed away and we're giving both our hearts and our prayers, standing in solidarity with the families of all of those who were wounded and all of those who are fighting for their lives right now.

This was a horrific situation unfolding in the middle of a place that people associate with care and comfort – a situation that came out of nowhere. But even in the midst of this horror, there were many, many acts of heroism. I want to thank our first responders – the police officers from the 4-4 and 4-6 Precincts and from our Strategic Response Group who entered the building quickly, went toward the danger to protect the many, many hundreds of people who were in the building.

The firefighters who arrived – this was not just an active shooter situation but there was a fire that complicated matters and our firefighters did an exceptional job of addressing that situation immediately. And then, of course, all of the personnel at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital whose day went from normal to horrifying in a matter of seconds – the doctors, the nurses – all of the personnel responded with extraordinary bravery, with cool professionalism. They protected each other. They protected their patients even amidst this horrible situation.

I want to express to everyone at Bronx-Lebanon hospital our profound thanks for all they did to handle this situation and to immediately respond to support their compatriots who are wounded.

There will be an opportunity in the coming hours to provide more details [inaudible]. But, at this point, there is a lot that we are piecing together. You'll hear from the Commissioner in a moment, but I want to say upfront, there are many, many details that we're still putting together, that's why we're not in a position to answer questions yet. But there will be an accounting of details shortly.

But, what I can say in the meantime is there are many things amidst this pain to be proud of today, and God bless our first responders and the hospital personnel for the way they handled this situation. They put the safety of their fellow New Yorkers first, as they always do.

Before I turn to the Commissioner, I want to thank Commissioner Dan Nigro of the Fire Department. His men and women performed admirably in this situation. I want to thank Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark for being here; the Borough President of the Bronx Rubin Diaz Jr.; State Senator Gustavo Rivera; and Congressman Jose Serrano. Thanks to all for being here in support and solidarity.

With that, I turn to our Police Commissioner James O'Neill.

Police Commissioner James P. O'Neill: As the Mayor stated, this is all preliminary information – this just happened a couple of hours ago. So, this is what we have so far – at approximately 2:55 pm, a 9-1-1 call was received reporting a male firing a gun on the 16th floor of Bronx-Lebanon Hospital. That's located right here behind me [inaudible] in the Grand Concourse.

Responding patrol units from the 4-4 Precinct, and the 6-6 Precinct, quickly determined that several people had been shot on the 16th and 17th floors by a lone gunman armed with an assault rifle. Additional NYPD units from the Strategic Response Group, Critical Response Command, Emergency Service Unit, and other commands responded and began our active-shooter protocol, including a search for the suspect, evacuation, and activation of the Rescue Task Force, which is a combination of NYPD personnel and F-D personnel. During the incident, the hospital's fire alarm system activate, apparently due to the suspect's attempt to set himself on fire.

On the 17th floor, officers encountered the male suspect lying on the floor, dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. An assault rifle was found nearby. The subject was wearing a white medical-type coat. A female victim was also discovered on the 17th floor. She was pronounced dead at the scene. A total of six additional victims were found on the 16th floor. They have been removed to the emergency room of the hospital. Five of them were seriously injured and one suffered a gunshot wound to the leg.

The subject, who is not being officially identified at this time, is a former employee of Bronx-Lebanon Hospital.

Thanks very much.