Hillary will save him... If he denounces gun ownership...

June 17, 2002 --


Terrified partygoers in an East Village bar watched in horror yesterday as a crazed gunman went on a racially motivated rampage, shooting three people and spraying hostages with gasoline while threatening to burn them alive, cops and witnesses said.

"It's time for all of you crackers to pay - you know what this is about," Steven Johnson, 34, reportedly snarled as he jammed a gun against the head of one woman and ordered her to tie up 16 other hostages.

For 40 minutes, the Brooklyn gunman - armed with three handguns and an 18-inch Samurai sword - taunted his hostages as he sprayed gasoline on them and flicked a barbecue lighter, saying he wanted to see "white people die," a hostage told The Post.

The chilling ordeal unfolded in a tiny dishwashing room inside the popular hangout Bar Veloce shortly after 2 a.m.

Johnson - who's been arrested numerous times on weapons and drug charges - unleashed his fury after stopping two couples walking on 11th Street, toward Third Avenue, cops said.

"I've got a problem with you," he told one of the men, Jonah Brander, 28, as he put a .380-caliber handgun to his head and demanded his wallet, police said.

Before Brander could move, Johnson shot him in the stomach, grabbed one of the women by the hair and began dragging her toward Second Avenue, authorities said.

The woman, a 20-year- old Swede, Ellin Juselius, escaped as the gunman fired three shots.

NYU student Melanie Kaye, 20, was enjoying drinks with friends when she saw a bloodied Brander rushing into the bar, screaming, "Call 911!"

As stunned patrons watched, Kaye said, the gunman followed Brander into the bar, shot him a second time, and grabbed one of Kaye's friends, 20-year-old Robin Arzon, by the neck, pressing a gun to her head.

"It's time for my message to be heard," Johnson said, according to witnesses, as patrons fled to the back of the bar looking for an escape route, while he allegedly fired two shots into the street.

One hit Shoji Eso, 54, in the wrist; the other bullet ripped into a police car arriving on the scene.

Sixteen patrons found themselves trapped when they ran into a dishwashing room and were followed by Johnson, holding Arzon, witnesses said.

He ordered Arzon to bind the hostages' hands with plastic handcuffs and began dousing them with a flammable pinkish liquid - either gasoline or kerosene - from a spray bottle, cops said.

"I thought we were going to be raped," one of the hostages, Ann-Margaret Gidley, 23, recalled yesterday as tears welled in her eyes.

Ten other patrons escaped Johnson's wrath by running down to the basement, bending the bars on a window gate and squeezing though to freedom.

During the standoff, Johnson had two conversations with 911 operators, saying, "My name is Mr. Gun," and, "There's people here with gasoline shirts."

He also railed against the injustices of the world and said, "A real man chooses when he dies," cops said.

Sources said Johnson is believed to have AIDS, and his wife may have died in March from the disease.

Bar Veloce neighbor David Seigal heard cops yelling, "Let go of the girl! Let go of the girl!" as they tried to end the standoff.

As cops arrived, the hostages said their fears of a shootout rose as Johnson grew nervous.

Gidley and another woman charged at Johnson, knocking him off balance. As he tried to recover, he allegedly fired again at police and shot the other woman in the leg.

Police Officer Michael Gargon fired back, grazing Johnson's head as cops swarmed into the bar, ending the standoff.

Johnson was charged with attempted murder and weapons possession, and three victims were taken to Bellevue.

Brander was in serious condition; the other shooting victims were stable.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said that if it weren't for the quick thinking of the hostages and cops, it would have been a "much bigger tragedy."

Police said they later found 153 rounds of ammunition in Johnson's Williamsburg home and a message scrawled on a wall that read, "Tell the Boys in Blue I won't be easy."

Johnson also left a note for his 10-year-old son, authorities said.

"Be a good boy," it said. "Don't worry. I'll watch over you. I'll be your guardian angel."

Additional reporting by Ikimulisa Sockwell-Mason

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Anyone care to bet whether or not he'll be charged with a "hate crime"?

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 Now, about that marksmanship......[;)]

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Johnson, who was also carrying a police baton, a bottle of kerosene, a fireplace lighter and more than 100 plastic handcuffs,

then allegedly forced a woman to start putting flex cuffs on the hostages

When Johnson pulled out the lighter, two Manhattan women jumped him,

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I'm wondering if the NYPD shooter was a regular patrol officer or one of the ESU guys.

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Was just joking....how easy is it to make a head shot on a hostage taker who is crazy and bobbing/weaving around fighting with two goth chicks??  The hit the guy, and that's what counts.   If it was a patrol officer, that's probably way above average shooting, right?  

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Hey Wave!  That would have been the perfect place to show the legs off on your new AR10!

...the bullet passes down the barrel, dances across the street, enters through the front window, and places a speed hole in the perps forehead...

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The cop was ESU, and perp was shot in the head with an MP-5, only grazed him though. NYPD should switch to .223 for better coconut penetration.
Good shooting Mike!

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You must be mistaken.  Guns are illegal in NYC.