Bergen County Shooter Was 'Whistleblower' On U.S. Department Of Labor: Report

The Bergen County man who authorities say shot and killed a security guard at a lower Manhattan federal building blew the whistle on the government when he worked there 16 years ago.

Kevin Downing of Fort Lee was fired by the U.S. Department of Labor in 1999for blowing the whistle on the department, CNN.com reported.

Downing walked into the lobby of the building housing the labor department just after 5 p.m. Friday and shot and killed 53-year-old security guard Idrissa Camara, authorities said. Downing shot himself in the head moments later.

Related: Fort Lee Man Shoots Security Guard, Kills Self At Federal Building In NYC

Downing allegedly, according to federal records, was fired as an economist ”based on his whistleblowing activities,” CNN reported. He was fired as an economist, a decision he later appealed, after only 10 months of employment.

Downing reportedly raised the red flag on a project to reorganize the New York City Bureau of Labor Statistics office including a “superfluous complex” in Mountainside, New Jersey, the National Taxpayers Union said in a 2014 blog post about Downing’s case, CNN reported.

Downing reportedly lost several appeals for reinstatement to his job, the report states.