Ali Hassan Abu Kamal

Case overview

Ali Hassan Abu Kamal opened fire on the observation deck of the Empire State Building. He killed one person and wounded six others before taking his own life with a gunshot to the head. Law enforcement officials ruled it was a premeditated attack after finding notes indicating anger over Palestine and Israel.

A 69-year-old Palestinian English teacher, Abu Kamal shot himself after the attack. He was taken to a hospital where he died five hours later.

Timeline

• February 23, 1997 — Ali Hassan Abu Kamal opened fire on the observation deck of the Empire State Building, killed one person, wounded six others, and committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.

The offence

Ali Hassan Abu Kamal began shooting shortly after 5 p.m. on February 23, 1997 on the 86th floor observation deck of the Empire State Building.

Witnesses said he muttered something about Egypt seconds before he began shooting. During the shooting, he shouted, "Are you from Egypt?" Law enforcement officials said they did not know whether the shout was intended to spare or identify potential victims.

He used a .380-caliber Beretta handgun. He apparently bought the handgun in Florida at the end of January 1997.

The attack resulted in:

• one man killed
• six people wounded

Witnesses and those present described panic and people running for exits. One witness said, "I heard a loud popping noise" and that he initially thought it was "a little child playing with fireworks." Another witness said, "Everyone started running" and "Everybody was panicked."

Victims and injuries

The sole murder victim was 27-year-old Christoffer Burmeister, a Danish musician who was living in New York and played in a band. He was visiting the Empire State Building with band mate Matthew Gross.

Matthew Gross was critically wounded in the attack.

Witness accounts described several wounded people, including:

• a French couple from Verdun whose 16-year-old daughter escaped injury
• a 30-year-old Swiss man
• an Argentinian man, 52
• a man from the Bronx
• one wounded man who was shot in the head
• others who were less seriously hurt
• two children who were hurt when they were knocked from parents' arms
• four women who suffered minor injuries in the rush to the exit

Weapon and evidence

The gunman used a .380-caliber Beretta handgun. Law enforcement officials said they found notes indicating anger over Palestine and Israel, and ruled the attack premeditated.

Law enforcement officials also said that Abu Kamal’s attack was premeditated based on his visit to the observation deck the day before the shooting.

A pair of identical letters, one in English and one in Arabic, was found in a pouch around his neck. The letters were described as a diatribe against the "Big Three" of the United States, France and England for their mistreatment of Palestinians, and against Zionism, which he said oppressed Palestinians.

The letter also named two business partners, who Abu Kamal claimed swindled him out of money, losing $300,000 in a business venture.

Investigation and motive

Law enforcement officials ruled the attack premeditated after finding notes indicating anger over Palestine and Israel. They said the attack was based on Abu Kamal’s visit to the observation deck the day before the shooting.

Abu Kamal’s widow offered a different explanation. She said the real motive was not political but rooted in despondency over financial ruin. She said he became suicidal after losing $300,000 in a business venture.

Abu Kamal’s daughter added that he could not return home after losing the money.

In February 2007, 10 years after the shooting, Abu Kamal’s daughter Linda said she was tired of lying about her father’s motives for the attack and described the attack as politically motivated. She told the Daily News:

"A Palestinian Authority official advised us to say the attack was not for political reasons because that would harm the peace agreement with Israel. We didn't know that he was martyred for patriotic motivations, so we repeated what we were told to do... His goal was patriotic. He wanted to take revenge from the Americans, the British, the French and the Israelis... He wrote that after he raised his children and made sure that his family was all right he decided to avenge in the highest building in America to make sure they get his message"

Linda said the family became certain he carried out the attack for political reasons after reading his diary. She said:

"He wrote that after he raised his children and made sure that his family was all right he decided to avenge in the highest building in America to make sure they get his message," said Linda

She also said her mother burned the diary, fearing it would cause the family trouble. She said:

"When we wanted to clarify that to the media, nobody listened to us"

Linda said that the letter found on his body three days after the shootings stated he planned the violence as a political statement, and she said:

"His goal was patriotic. He wanted to take revenge from the Americans, the British, the French and the Israelis."

Abu Kamal’s widow had earlier told the press:

"My husband is not a terrorist, he was just hopeless. He was aged, he had nothing to do with politics, or terrorism, or crime."

Background of the suspect

Ali Hassan Abu Kamal was 69 years old at the time of the attack. He was described as a Palestinian English teacher.

He was born in Jaffa in Mandate Palestine on September 19, 1927. He was the son of a refugee family that fled the city during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and resettled in Gaza.

He had become a well-respected English teacher at a local high school and a university. He was also described as a tutor and translator.

He was said to earn about $3,000 a month and to live in an affluent neighborhood with his wife. He was described as having six children.

In 1996, after 50 years of teaching, he decided his family should relocate to the United States for a better life. He obtained a legal nonimmigrant visa and arrived in New York on Christmas Eve, 1996.

At the time of the shooting, his passport said he was from Ramallah on the West Bank.

Arrest

No arrest occurred because Ali Hassan Abu Kamal died by suicide shortly after the attack.

Trial

No trial occurred.

Aftermath

After the attack, building officials planned to review security procedures. A spokesman defended the building's security and said it was "superb" and that the building had a lack of metal detectors or bag searches.

Leona Helmsley, whose real estate company manages the Empire State Building, said the firm would pay for families of victims to be flown to New York. She said:

"We will do everything possible to lighten their burden during this terrible time"

Other details

Witnesses and those present included:

• French tourist Jean-Luec Will, 40
• British tourist David Robinson, 35
• maintenance workers Gerard Guntner, 43, and George McHenry, 52, both from Jersey City, New Jersey
• Belgian businessman Stef Nys, 36

Gerard Guntner said:

"He was coughing blood. ... I just said, 'Hang in there'"

David Robinson said:

"Everyone started running," Robinson said. "Everybody was panicked."

George McHenry said he videotaped what he described as "five bodies" strewn about the deck, and said:

"I don't know why I took those pictures, believe me," McHenry said. "I don't know if it did any good or not."

Stef Nys said he had gone to the Empire State Building "to try to relax myself a little bit" and later said:

"I've never seen so much blood in my life,"