A man was shot and killed early today after leaving a trendy SoHo nightclub, and law enforcement officials confirmed to NBCNewYork that the victim was an EMT accused of ignoring a pregnant woman as she lay dying in a Brooklyn restaurant last December.
Jason Green, 32, of Long Island City was shot on Varrick Street around 5 a.m. and pronounced dead a short time later, police said. Sources say Green and a friend tried unsuccessfully to get into the nightclub Greenhouse and about a block away got into a dispute with someone in a car. That's when Green was shot, sources said.
There is no word yet on suspects but police don't think his shooting was connected to the incident last year.
Green and fellow FDNY EMT Melissa Jackson, 32, of Queens Village, sparked furor last year when it was revealed that the pair did not stop to help Eutisha Rennix after she collapsed at an Au Bon Pain restaurant. Both Rennix and her unborn baby later died.
Green and Jackson, who were on a coffee break when the tragedy occurred, were suspended without pay for 30 days over the incident. The Brooklyn DA's office has opened a criminal probe.
Authorities and witnesses alleged that the two FDNY workers continued to order breakfast instead of helping Rennix, who was six months pregnant when she collapsed. Witnesses said the EMTs told workers at the cafe to call 911 and then left when they were asked to help the 25-year-old woman.
Both Green, a six year veteran of the FDNY, and Jackson, maintained they were unfairly villainized after the incident.
Rennix's mother, Cynthia, called the EMTs' behavior "inhuman."
Union officials have said the two could have done more but point out the pair was working as dispatchers at fire department headquarters at the time. City officials said Jackson did call 911 before she left the store with her breakfast.
Mayor Bloomberg called the EMTs actions "unconscionable." When asked if "burnout" might have been a factor, the Mayor said, "Burnout? They were sitting there having coffee. How could they be burnt out? They're human beings. Somebody is dying down the street and (people) say help them and they just sat there."
Rennix, who suffered from asthma, left behind a 3-year-old son.
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