Hero worker saved 8 from NYC mass shooting — by shoving them into a closet
A courageous greeter in the lobby at 345 Park Ave. saved eight lives by shoving people into a closet after they unwittingly stumbled into the scene of last week's mass shooting, The Post has learned.
Andre Morris, 39, insists he only did what 'needed to be done' when crazed gunman Shane Tamura opened fire just as a group of workers got off an elevator at the Midtown high-rise last Monday.
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6 Lobby greeter Andre Morris saved 8 people from the horrific Midtown shooting on Park Avenue last week.
Provided by Andre Morris
He didn't think twice as he rushed the employees into a nearby closet where the group hunkered down in panicked silence — texting loved ones and bracing the door against the AR-15-wielding gunman outside.
'I just did my job,' Morris told The Post, adding. 'I'm not a hero. I am completely devastated by the tragic and senseless deaths.'
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Morris has worked for building owner Rudin Management for ten years and as a lobby ambassador in the Park Avenue location for the past three.
The mass shooting — the deadliest in New York City in a quarter century — claimed the lives of off-duty NYPD cop Didarul Islam, building security guard Aland Etienne, Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner and Rudin Management staffer Julia Hyman. One other person was wounded.
Tamura, the 27-year-old gunman, turned his rifle on himself, ending his reign of terror on the 33rd floor.
6 Tamura's massacre claimed the lives of 4 in the building.
Obtained by the NY Post
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6 Morris has worked for building owner Rudin Management for ten years.
Matthew McDermott
Morris was getting water at his post when he heard between 10 and 15 gunshots, but couldn't locate the gunman. As he saw bullets ricochet and a puff of smoke, he dialed 911 and then radioed to warn other building staff.
The heavily secured building is home to a slew of high-end clients, including investment management firm Blackstone and the NFL — the latter of which Tamura was targeting.
Morris corralled the eight workers as they left the elevator and led them to a closet, where he turned off his radio so it wouldn't give away their hiding spot and directed everyone to swallow their terror and keep silent.
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6 Workers in Blackstone's Park Avenue building were seen barricading their office door during gunman Shane Tamura 's deadly rampage
Morris and another person tried to firmly keep the door shut as the other refugees texted loved ones.
When he heard cops on the scene, he opened the door and led the workers out while reminding them to keep their hands up as they were taken to safety.
'As lobby ambassador I know the people who come to work here every day, they become family,' he said.
6 The mass shooting was the deadliest in New York City in a quarter century.
Obtained by NY Post
'Building management had provided training for all kinds of emergencies, you think they'll never happen. But when this happened, my training and instincts kicked in, I knew what needed to be done and gathered as many people as I could.'
Two women who worked at Blackstone and were rescued by Morris described how they first saw the slain security guard dead on the ground and heard a commotion while waiting to be rescued in the closet.
One of the workers, who did not want to be named, recalled how she and several others where in the lobby when she she heard gunfire.
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'We had just stepped down [off elevator] and we saw the turnstiles broken,' the first worker said. 'We walked one elevator bank and we saw the security guard alone, dead in the floor, and that's when we realized something was going on.
'We sought shelter. Everything is just kind of hazy.'
The other worker said there were eight people, including a few other Blackstone workers, crammed into a tiny 'security closet type of space.'
6 Employees squeezed into a closet in the building to shelter from the barrage of bullets.
AP
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'While in there we heard footsteps, yelling, gunshots,' the second worker recalled.
'The SWAT team evacuated us because we were like in the middle of everything happening, so I think they wanted to make sure that we weren't shooters, so we had to raise our hands above our heads.'
The two women stopped by the building Friday morning to pay respects to the victims as they and countless others continue to grieve.
Morris is particularly grieving for Etienne, the brave security guard, whom he called a 'dear friend.'
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A Rudin Management security source commended Morris for his quick thinking and bravely following security training amid the chaos.
'We are tremendously grateful to Andre,' the source said. 'In addition to showing hospitality, the lobby ambassadors are an instrumental part of our security force.'
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