Manhattan office cleaner Sebije Nelovic says she came face-to-face with Shane Devon Tamura, the man authorities alleged gunned down multiple people inside an upscale office building, according to a statement shared with the Daily Caller.
Officials identified Tamura as the suspect in the shootings of four people, including an off-duty New York Police Department officer, on Monday. Nelovic says she heard something that sounded like “firecrackers” while working her shift, according to the statement from the 32BJ Service Employees International Union. She exited the office she was cleaning to investigate. She describes the glass door in front of the reception desk on the 33rd floor “shaking.”
“It started falling down — boom. And this guy came in the middle of the door, and pointed his gun at me,” Nelovic alleges. (RELATED: Fmr Vegas Cop Predicts Big Security Changes Nationwide After NYC Mass Shooting)
Tamura opened fire around her, prompting her to throw her hands in the air, according to her statement.
“‘I’m the cleaning lady, I’m the cleaning lady,’” she recalls telling the alleged gunman. “But I realized — he comes with a machine gun … He’s going to shoot no matter what.”
Police officers carry the casket of slain NYPD officer Didarul Islam to a hearse during Islam’s funeral services in the Bronx. (Photo by TIMOTHY A.CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
She describes running away and finding shelter inside a nearby closet. “I started praying,” she recalls. “I heard shouting down the hallway.”
She alleges that he shot the closet door as he walked through the hallway, then recalls thinking of Julia Hyman, the 27-year-old Rubin Management associate she knew “always worked late.”
“I knew she was at her desk, and I thought, God, help her,” Nelovic recalls. Hyman was reportedly shot dead after exiting a panic room, Fox Business reported.
Nelovic says her supervisor texted and called her, ultimately telling her to stay in the closet, according to the statement. Fearing the sound of her phone might reveal her hiding spot, she powered it off. She “sat in the closet for 2 hours, maybe 3 hours.” (RELATED: Officials ID NYC Gunman, Confirm Slain Officer Among Victims)
Nelovic says she didn’t learn of Hyman’s death until she made it back to her Queens home and turned on the news, according to the statement.
“[T]hanks to God, I’m okay,” Nelovic said.
She said she has been a cleaner at the building for 27 years.
