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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />N.Y. City Council member killed <br /> <br />Advertisement <br />OUIl HEALTHIEST <br />BRANDS ON SALE <br /> <br />II <br /> <br /> <br />NO TERRORISM ANGLE <br />Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was in his office <br />at the time of the shootings, stressed that the incident <br />was not related to terrorism. <br />"This is an attack on democracy," Bloomberg said. <br />"We will not stop until we fmd who did this. It is not <br />terrorism. It appears to be a random act, but we cannot <br />allow this to go on, ever." <br />The City Council had just begun its meeting shortly <br />after 2 p.m., and I 00 to 200 people were in the <br />chamber, when seven or eight shots were fired from the <br />balcony, witnesses said. Reporters in the press room <br />dived beneath their desks. <br />Witnesses said that a security guard returned fIre <br />and that about a dozen shots in all were fired. City <br />Council member Peter Vallone told MSNBC television <br />that the gunman targeted a specific victim, firing <br />several shots at him. He continued firing into the <br />person's body on the ground. <br /> <br /> <br />. Shooting at NYC City Hall <br />. Iraq reconstruction hearing <br />. Powell/Israeli FM press <br />availability <br />. More live video <br /> <br />'GENERAL PANDEMONIUM' <br />There was "general pandemonium" in the chamber <br />as members dived for cover, City Council member Lew <br />Fidler told WNBC. Officers hustled the council <br />members out of the building. <br />"I thought balloons were being popped until I saw <br />the officers lift their guns and shoot back at the <br />balcony," City Council member John Liu told the New <br />York newspaper Newsday. "It happened quickly, and <br />people were hurt even coming out of the chambers." <br />Fidler and others <br />questioned how a <br />gunman could have <br />gotten past the <br />. WNBC New York coverage building's metal <br />detectors with a <br />firearm, but staffers in the building told reporters that <br />many people were often allowed into the building <br />unchecked. <br /> <br /> <br />http://www.msnbc.com/news/943I19.asp <br /> <br />Page 3 of5 <br /> <br />7/23/2003 <br />