NEW YORK, July 24: This week’s murder at New York City Hall of Councilman James Davis, a former police officer and ordained minister, could be due to political rivalry.

Davis was struck several times in the torso and died at a hospital. He had planned to introduce legislation on workplace violence that afternoon. His killer, Othniel Askew, 31, died a short time later at the same hospital, police said. He was shot five times by an undercover police officer.

Askew had filed papers to oppose Davis in a three-way council race in the Democratic primary in autumn, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. But he was not an official candidate because he had not filed enough petition signatures.

A spokeswoman said Davis and Askew had recently called a truce, and had met three times in recent weeks. When Askew showed up on Wednesday at Davis office in Brooklyn and asked if they could go to City Hall together, Davis agreed.

According to a report hours before the shooting, a man identifying himself as Askew called the FBI’s New York office to allege that Davis was harassing him over the upcoming primary election, FBI said.

Davis, who was black, joined the police department in 1993, a decade after he was allegedly beaten by two white officers.