MURRAY HILL — An 81-year-old man fatally shot himself just as a city marshal arrived to evict him from his East 40th Street apartment on Tuesday, according to NYPD.
The marshal, George Essock Jr., knocked on the man's door at 305 E. 40th St. just after 12 p.m. to serve him eviction papers, when the resident asked him to wait a few moments while he got dressed, according to Michael Woloz, a spokesman for city marshals.
After a short time, Essock heard a loud bang come from inside the apartment, Woloz said. Then he drilled through the door and found the resident in the bedroom with a gunshot wound to his head, he said.
Essock immediately called 911, but responders were unable to save the man, who was declared dead at the scene, a police spokesman said.
Police did not release the man's identity, citing department policy regarding suicide cases, but a doorman at the building, who declined to reveal his name, said the man had lived in the building for "a long time."
It was not immediately clear why the man was being evicted. The owner of the property could not immediately be reached for comment.
Woloz said the marshal carried out his duties correctly and would not have been able to do much to stop the man.
“An eviction is a challenging time in people’s lives, and marshals are extremely sensitive to that, but any situation can turn into something else,” he said. “Everything was done by the book.”
City marshals are appointed to five-year terms by the mayor, and enforce orders such as evictions and collecting on court judgments, functioning as independent contractors. A spokeswoman for the Department of Investigations, the city agency that oversees the marshals declined to comment on Wednesday, citing pending investigation.
Essock was not immediately available for comment.
