A gunman shot three people and tried to set patrons at a Manhattan bar on fire Sunday before being arrested in what police said was a racially motivated attack.
Steven Johnson, 34, was charged with attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
Johnson was carrying three loaded guns, 153 rounds of ammunition and a samurai sword when he approached four white people walking in the East Village and told them: “I have a problem with you,” said police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
Johnson allegedly shot one of the men, followed him to the door of the bar and shot him again. He then entered the bar and ordered up to 40 patrons to the kitchen, police said.
Johnson shot another man who peeked into the bar, police said.
Johnson, who also was carrying a bottle of kerosene, a fireplace lighter and more than 100 plastic handcuffs, allegedly forced a woman to start putting flex cuffs on the hostages while he sprayed the crowd with kerosene and shot at police cars outside.
Witnesses said Johnson, who is black, was “ranting about white people and vowed revenge for thousands of years of suffering.”
When Johnson pulled out the lighter, two women jumped him, and he shot one in the leg, police said. Officers stormed the bar, grazing Johnson in the head and arresting him.
“Those two women . . . were very brave,” Kelly said.
One victim was hospitalized in serious condition.
