On Dec 8, 1980, John Lennon was shot five times by 25 year old Mark Chapman outside the Dakota building in New York City where he lived with Yoko Ono and his son Sean. Chapman stalked Lennon for days outside the Dakota apartments.
Keelin and I lived in his neighborhood on the upper west side, ten blocks north. I could hear the sirens that night. I was listening to the Vin Scelsa show on NYC's WNEW 102.7 when it happened. Scelsa was a friend of Lennon's. Sometime around 11:30, he broke in
Vin Scelsa: "I was playing Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Jungle Land.’ This long, 11 or 12, or 13 minute track about the city and about life on the streets. And to a certain extent, about violence on the streets. A very ironic thing. I faded down the music and I read the bulletin. And we tried to downplay it. John has been shot. He’s been taken to the hospital.