A disgruntled former apparel designer was killed Friday morning in a hail of police gunfire in front of the Empire State Building after he shot and killed a co-worker and engaged in a gunbattle with two officers, authorities said.

Police officers fired a total of 16 rounds; one officer shot nine while another one shot seven, the New York Police Department said.

An investigation is under way, authorities said.

The violence erupted just as visitors began to queue up to ascend the famous New York skyscraper in one of Manhattan's busiest neighborhoods.

Police identified the shooter as 58-year-old Jeffrey Johnson, who was apparently laid off from his job as a designer of women's accessories at Hazan Import last year.

"We have on tape the perpetrator pulled his gun out and tried to shoot at the cops," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "Whether he got off any bullets or not, to be determined."

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the bystanders were not hit directly by police, but rather the officers' struck "flowerpots and other objects around, so ... their bullets fragmented and, in essence, that's what caused the wounds."

Earlier Friday, Bloomberg told reporters that some of the wounded may have been inadvertently hit in the crossfire or by ricocheting bullets.

Six of the wounded were treated and released at hospitals as of Friday evening, while three others remained hospitalized, Kelly said.

One of those wounded, Erica Solar, was on her way to get a cup of coffee at Dunkin' Donuts when a bullet tore through the back of her leg, her brother said. The Manhattan receptionist is being treated at the city's Bellevue Hospital.

Robert Asika, a 23-year-old city tour guide, was on his way to work when he got caught in the crossfire.

"When I turned around, I saw a guy reach in his suit and he pulled out a gun," he told CNN affiliate WCBS. "I guess he shot at the police officer. And the police officer shot him. And one of them shot me in the arm, and I fell."

The slain victim was identified as Steven Ercolino by the president of State University of New York at Oneonta, where he was a 1992 graduate.

"We were saddened to learn that a member of our Oneonta alumni community was the victim of this tragic and senseless killing," Nancy Kleniewski said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Steve's family."

Ercolino, 41, is listed as a vice president of sales at Hazan Import Corp., according to his LinkedIn profile.

"It's not something that should happen to a loving person like that," his brother Paul Ercolino told CNN on Friday night. "He's going to be so missed by everybody. He was a light of so many lives."

Johnson had a longstanding dispute with Ercolino "apparently centered on the fact that Ercolino was not selling -- at least in Johnson's opinion -- as much of his product ... as he wanted him to," according to Kelly.

The suspect lost his job last year "as a result of downsizing," but continued to return to the company regularly, having "a confrontation with Ercolino virtually every time he went back," said the police commissioner.

Both men filed harassment complaints against each other in April 2011, Kelly added.

On Friday, Johnson was wearing a business suit and carrying a briefcase as he waited for Ercolino outside his business on West 33rd Street. When Ercolino appeared, "Without any conversation, he shot him once in the head and then shot him in the torso," said the police commissioner.

Johnson then walked east, before eventually turning north. A construction worker was among those who dashed after the gunman after the initial gunshots. Eventually, they alerted two police officers in front of the Empire State Building that the suspect "just killed a man around the corner," Kelly said.

The police commissioner said the suspect pulled his gun out of his briefcase as the officers approached, pointing at them. The officers then fatally shot Johnson.

A brief surveillance video released Friday night by police show the man walking behind a large planter on a busy street. He appears to point something as two officers approach, coming to within a few feet of him. Then, as bystanders run off in all directions, the man falls abruptly to the ground after apparently being shot.

Another video shot by an Australian tourist offered a street-level glimpse of the shooting, which prompted road closures and frightened onlookers.

At least two police officers appear in the video with their guns drawn over a man who is lying on his back. The man appears to be alive, with his hands partly outstretched.