Insurance exec kills two co-workers, self at NYC office

NEW YORK -- An insurance executive called two co-workers into his office near Times Square on Monday morning, shot them to death and then killed himself, authorities say.

The motive was not immediately clear, but a police source told The Associated Press said the gunman, who was in his 50s, had been romantically involved with one of the victims, a woman in her 30s.

The third victim was a man, also in his 30s. The names of the dead were not immediately released.

The gunfire erupted on the 11th floor at about 8:20 a.m., well before most employees had arrived at Empire Blue Cross-Blue Shield's offices on Broadway near 40th Street.

The gunman, a vice president in the insurance company's fraud investigations unit, was formerly an FBI agent in New Jersey, according to a federal law enforcement source speaking on condition of anonymity.

Two semiautomatic handguns, a .45-caliber and a 9mm, were found on the floor. A third gun was also found in the office, and police believe all three belonged to the executive.

"We heard some sounds. I thought it was maybe thunder or a truck," said Richard Restrepo, an electrician who was working on the ninth floor. "Twenty minutes later, my boss comes in and says, 'Everyone out.' He saw all the cop cars in the street and thought maybe it was a bomb scare."

All three victims were found in the executive's 15-by-15-foot corner office, police said. A police source said a witness reported that the vice president had called the two others into his office.

Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield leases three floors in the 25-story building.

Maria Psomas of Bloomingdale, N.J., who works on the eighth floor, said she moved to the New York City area a year ago from Minneapolis.

"I've never been this close to where something like this happened," she said. "I'm hoping my parents don't hear about it."