Authorities Search Home Of Gunman In Shooting At Varick Street Federal Building
FORT LEE, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Investigators are looking for a motive in the deadly shooting of a security guard at a federal building in SoHo on Friday evening.
Early Saturday morning, federal agents converged on the Fort Lee, New Jersey home of Kevin Downing.
Investigators collected bags and boxes of evidence belonging to the 68-year-old, CBS2's Ilana Gold reported.
PHOTOS: Fatal Shooting At Varick Street Federal Building
The presence of federal authorities in the neighborhood has been alarming for neighbors, who say they're still stunned by Downing's final violent acts.
"It's awful. It's a terrible tragedy," said one neighbor. "He was quiet. He kept to himself."
Next door neighbors Alex and Rifka Glickman spent the night at a hotel after authorities evacuated them before searching Downing's home, 1010 WINS' Roger Stern reported.
"Police with submachine guns are coming up our steps here and said 'You have to clear the house.' I asked why and they said 'We can't tell you," Glickman said.
Police said Downing walked into a federal building at 201 Varick St. just after 5 p.m. with guns hidden in a bag.
Downing pulled out a gun and shot a security guard in the head as he approached the metal detector at the security screening area, authorities said. They said Downing then walked through the metal detectors toward the elevator and shot himself in the head.
Downing was pronounced dead at the scene. Three guns were found at the scene.
The security guard -- 53-year-old Idrissa Camara -- was rushed to Lenox Hill HealthPlex, where he was pronounced dead at 5:55 p.m., police said. Camara's family was overcome with grief at the hospital Friday night.
Camara's employer, FJC Security Service, released a statement praising the father of four as a dedicated worker.
"Camara was scheduled to complete his day at 4 p.m., but agreed to stay on for extra duty. That speaks volumes about the person he was," the statement said.
Outside the Camara family's apartment building in Harlem, his longtime friend about Konate said Camara was helpful, loyal and dedicated, CBS2's Dave Carlin reported.
"He said it was a great job. He liked it," Konate said.
"He's everything for us. He's everything for us," Kadia Diallo said. "Wonderful father, wonderful brother, wonderful neighbor."
Camara was armed but investigators said he did not have time to defend himself.
"He was an incredibly hard worker, very dedicated to keeping the building safe to the point he gave his life for it," said Hector Figueroa, president of Service Employees International Union on LNS. "A life was taken needlessly."
The motive for the shooting is still unknown.
"We are at the very early stages of this investigation and are working to establish his motive for coming here, if he had an intended target beyond a security officer, and what the motive was behind the crime," NYPD Chief of Department James O'Neill said.
Detectives said Downing, a former economist, was fired from the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics several years ago. The BLS has an office on the eighth floor of the building on Varick Street.
Lawsuits and other documents show Downing thought he was fired as retaliation for blowing the whistle on alleged corruption and public waste, Gold reported.
Over the years, Downing had been persistent in his efforts to garner attention to his case, WCBS 880's Jim Smith reported.
People who live nearby in Fort Lee said Downing was a polite realtor who lived alone.
Neighbors told Stern they think Downing may have snapped after recently being hit by a car and seeing his live-in girlfriend die of cancer.
"He was just lonesome," said one neighbor. "I think that he couldn't cope with being all by himself."
Real estate listings show Downing bought the home in 1987 and has put it on the market several times over the years.