WHY?

Mom of Empire State Shooter Speaks

Searches for answers.

The mother of Jeffrey T. Johnson—the man who shot and killed a man outside the Empire State Building last week—wants to know why he did it. Her son was shot and killed by New York City police officers at the scene after Johnson pointed his gun at them. As soon as she heard the name of her son in television reports, she searched her memory for an explanation. Did it have anything to do with a life-threatening head injury in the sixth grade? Could the death of his beloved cat have tipped the unstable man over the edge? “I don’t blame police in New York for shooting my son because he killed somebody,” his mother said, “but for me, he hasn’t changed.”