A city councilman known as a crusader against urban violence was shot to death inside City Hall on Wednesday by a political rival who bypassed security with a gun by walking into the building along with his victim. A plainclothes police officer shot and killed the assailant, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. The gunman's ties to the councilman allowed him to bypass security, he added. "Obviously, there was a breakdown someplace," said Bloomberg, who was yards away in his office at the time of the attack but unharmed. Bloomberg said that all officials, including himself, will now be required to go through the building's metal detectors. Brooklyn Councilman James Davis, a former police officer and outspoken presence on the council, died from two gunshots to the chest as 14 bullets rattled across the landmark lower Manhattan building, authorities said. The gunman, Othniel Askew, 31, died a short time later at a hospital, according to a police source. The two mortally wounded men were found lying side by side on the balcony overlooking the council chambers.

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