Cleaner who survived Midtown office shooting describes seeing the gunman, hiding in closet for hours
Sebije Nelovic made it out alive Monday, but four others in the building were killed, including an NYPD officer who was working security in the lobby. Another security officer was also killed, along with two women who worked for companies on the floors above.
Nelovic released a statement through her union, saying she has worked as a cleaner at 345 Park Ave. for the past 27 years and knows everyone in the building.
The 65-year-old woman from Queens said she started her shift around 4:30 p.m. Monday and was collecting garbage on the 33rd floor when the gunman opened fire.
"I heard something that sounded like firecrackers. I thought it was the engineers – they make a lot of noise sometimes. But usually they are talking, and the noise continued," she said. "So I stepped out of the office and around the corner. I could see the glass door in front of the reception desk at the office on the 33rd floor. Suddenly, the glass door was shaking. It started falling down – boom."
Nelovic said that's when the gunman "came in the middle of the door, and pointed his gun at me."
"He started shooting around me. I put my hands up and said, 'I'm a cleaning lady. I'm a cleaning lady.' But I realized – he comes with a machine gun. He's not going to know who I am. He's going to shoot, no matter what," she said.
Nelovic said she ran down a hallway, found a closet, went inside and locked the door.
"I started praying. I heard shouting down the hallway. I sat in there for 5 minutes, or maybe 10, when I heard him walking down the hallway. He started shooting. He shot the door to the closet, and I was so scared. But I was okay. I heard him walk down the hallway, and then I remembered Julia," she said.
Nelovic said Julia Hyman, who was gunned down on the same floor of the building, always worked late until about 8 or 8:30 p.m.
"I knew she was at her desk, and I thought, God, help her. The noises went away. I kept praying," she said. "Then my supervisor started calling and texting me. I told him I was in a closet, and he told me to stay there. I got scared about making noise, so I turned my phone off."
Nelovic said she prayed in the closet for 2 or 3 hours before the police finally came. She said she didn't want to worry her family, so she asked police to drive her home.
"When I got home, my son had seen the news – and he was scared. I told him, thanks to God, I'm okay," she said. "I kept watching the TV. I had to see what happened, and why."
Nelovic said that's how she found out Hyman was killed.
"She was so nice," she said. "Every day, I get more stressed and shaken. A woman is dead on my floor – and it could have been me.
"I used to get scared to go home on the train at night. My shift ends at midnight. But going to work – I wasn't scared. I was safe there, and I was happy – for 27 years."
Hyman was the first victim to be laid to rest Wednesday, followed by Officer Islam and Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner on Thursday. Security officer Aland Etienne was also killed in the attack.
The shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
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