Now Reading: Alleged gunman Shane Tamura note blamed NFL
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Alleged gunman Shane Tamura note blamed NFL
Alleged gunman Shane Tamura note blamed NFL
Gunman kills 4, injures at least 5 in Manhattan skyscraper shooting
A gunman with a history of mental illness opened fire in an NYC skyscraper, killing four and injuring at least five before taking his own life.
- The Midtown Manhattan building houses the NFL headquarters and offices of major financial firms.
- Police said the motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
NEW YORK CITY – Homicide detectives were trying to determine why a gunman armed with an M4 rifle charged into a Park Avenue skyscraper and fatally shot at least four people, including a police officer, before killing himself.
Five people were shot in the rampage July 28 inside the 44-floor Midtown Manhattan building that houses the NFL headquarters and offices of major financial firms. Mayor Eric Adams said July 29 that preliminary investigations show the gunman, after a shooting in building’s lobby, may have intended to target the NFL offices but took the wrong elevator.
It was the offices of the building’s owner, Rudin Management, “where he carried out additional shootings and took the lives of additional employees,” Adams said in an interview with CBS.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that, in addition to the shooting victims, four people were treated for injuries they sustained while attempting to flee the scene.
The NYPD officer was identified as Didarul Islam, 36, a member of the force for 3 1/2 years, Islam leaves behind a wife who is eight months pregnant and two young sons. Adams ordered all flags on city buildings and stationary flagstaffs throughout the five boroughs to be lowered to half-staff until further notice in homage to Islam.
“Officer Didarul Islam died as he lived, a hero and protector of New York City,” Adams said in a social media post July 29. “We will never forget you.”
The suspect, Shane Tamura, 27, left a note that appeared to blame the NFL for a brain injury, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said during a July 29 appearance on CBS “This Morning.”
“He did have a note on him. The note alluded to that he felt he had CTE, a known brain injury for those who participate in contact sports,” Adams said. “He appeared to have blamed the NFL for his injury.”
Tamura was seen exiting a double-parked black BMW outside of the Manhattan skyscraper before he entered the lobby, turned right and began shooting. Officers later found in the car a rifle case with rounds, a loaded revolver, ammunition, magazines and a backpack with medication prescribed to Tamura in the vehicle.
− Karissa Waddick
CTE: What is Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, its effect on football?
Former NFL player Phillip Adams’s brain is being tested for CTE or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. Here’s how this brain disease affects athletes.
Just the FAQs, USA TODAY
President Donald Trump, in a social media post, said he had been briefed on the shooting.
“I trust our Law Enforcement Agencies to get to the bottom of why this crazed lunatic committed such a senseless act of violence,” Trump wrote. “My heart is with the families of the four people who were killed, including the NYPD Officer, who made the ultimate sacrifice. God Bless the New York Police Department, and God Bless New York!”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul decried the loss of “four innocent lives in a horrific act of violence.” She made reference to the gunman’s assault-style rifle and urged Congress to to pass a nationwide ban on assault weapons.
“New York has some of the strongest gun laws in the nation. We banned assault weapons. We strengthened our Red Flag Law. We closed dangerous loopholes,” Hochul said in a statement. “But our laws only go so far when an AR-15 can be obtained in a state with weak gun laws and brought into New York to commit mass murder.”
Hochul also directed flags of state government buildings at half-staff until all victims laid to rest.
“The violence we witnessed at the hands of this individual is sickening, unacceptable and it must stop here,” Hochul said. “An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us, and we must confront this violence head on. My heart is with our neighbors in Manhattan, the victims and their families − as well as the brave men and women of the NYPD.”
CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a degenerative brain condition that happens after repeated head injuries. It has been commonly associated with football players, and can result even if they haven’t experienced a concussion. According to the Concussion Legacy Foundation, symptoms do not generally begin appearing until years after the onset of head impacts.
Symptoms are similar to those found in patients suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, according to Dr. Ann McKee, director of the UNITE Brain Bank at Boston University.
− Steve Gardner
The Blackstone investment firm issued a statement saying one of its employees was among those killed.
“We are heartbroken to share that our colleague, Wesley LePatner, was among those who lost their lives in the tragic incident at 345 Park Avenue,” the statement said.
According to LePatner’s profile on the firm’s website, she was a senior managing director of the firm, global head of Blackstone’s “Core+ Real Estate” and the CEO of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust. LePatner was a graduate of Yale University and served on the boards of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, according to the website.
“Words cannot express the devastation we feel. Wesley was a beloved member of the Blackstone family and will be sorely missed,” the statement said. “She was brilliant, passionate, warm, generous, and deeply respected within our firm and beyond. She embodied the best of Blackstone.”
Police received multiple reports of an active shooter inside the building, Tisch said at a news conference July 28, hours after the deadly rampage. The suspect opened fire at an NYPD officer who was working a paid detail at the building, according to Tisch. He then shot a woman who “took cover behind a pillar and proceeds through the lobby, spraying it with gunfire,” the police commissioner said.
The suspect also shot a security guard who was behind a security desk and another man in the lobby, Tisch added. The gunman then entered the building’s elevator and went up to the 33rd floor, where the building’s owner, Rudin Management, is located.
“(The suspect) begins to walk the floor, firing rounds as he traveled,” Tisch said. “One person was struck and killed on that floor. He then proceeds down a hallway and shoots himself in the chest.”
The alleged gunman was identified as 27-year-old Shane Tamura, of Nevada. Police said the motive for the shooting remains under investigation and investigators are working to understand why the suspect targeted the commercial building.
“We believe this to be a lone shooter and there is no longer an active threat to the public,” Tisch said, who said Tamura had a “documented mental health history.”
Christopher Raia, FBI assistant director in charge of the New York Field Office, said the bureau is standing by to help NYPD if needed in the investigation.
An NFL employee was seriously injured during the mass shooting and was in stable condition at a New York hospital on Monday night, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told staff in a memo.
“We believe that all of our employees are otherwise safe and accounted for, and the building has nearly been cleared,” Goodell wrote in the memo, obtained by USA TODAY Sports. Goodell called it “an unspeakable act of violence.”
Goodell advised staff based in New York to work remotely July 29, adding that it is understandable if they preferred to take the day off. He emphasized that there are significant resources available for employees, including grief counselors.
He also maintained that there will be increased security presence at the building in the days and weeks to come.
− Jarrett Bell
The skyscraper at 345 Park Ave. is home to several high-profile tenants in addition to the NFL, among them KPMG, Blackstone Group and Bank of America’s financial center. Commercial giant Rudin Management owns the high rise structure, which was designed by Fox & Fowle Architects.
“Our hearts go out to the victims of this horrific act and their families. We are incredibly grateful for the bravery of building security and law enforcement,” KPMG said in a statement to USA TODAY.
− Anthony Robledo
Hours after the shooting, several Manhattan blocks were still closed by police. The area is heavily marked by business offices and hotels. It’s steps away from several major tourist destinations, including St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Trump Tower.
Behind NYPD barricades, Armand Bramellari, 36, waited hours for his mom, a cleaner in the building, to be let out.
She was on the second floor when the shooting happened, he said. After seeing news of the shooting on X, he rushed over to pick her up, parking on a side street, he told USA TODAY.
Bramellari wondered how the shooter accessed the building, which normally requires a badge or access by security. “This . . . doesn’t happen,” he said, holding a pack of Marlboro Reds.
His family, originally from Albania, arrived thanks to his mom getting a lottery slot to enter the United States, he said. “She brought us here, and she’s got to die at work?”
Moments later, his mom finally appeared with a group of women. He passed an NYPD barricade and embraced her and the others before they went down a side street to his car.
Suspect had a ‘documented mental health history’
A vehicle that was double parked outside of the Park Avenue building was registered under Tamura’s name in the state of Nevada, according to Tisch.
Inside the vehicle, Tisch said officers discovered a rifle case with rounds, a loaded revolver, ammunition, magazines, a backpack and medication prescribed to Tamura. The police commissioner added that the vehicle was also searched by the NYPD bomb squad and was found to be clear of any explosives.
A preliminary investigation revealed the suspect’s vehicle had traveled across the country through Colorado on July 26, and Nebraska and Iowa on July 27, according to Tisch. The vehicle was also tracked in Columbia, New Jersey at 4:24 p.m. on July 28 before entering New York City.
“According to our law enforcement partners in Las Vegas, Mr. Tamura has a documented mental health history,” Tisch said.
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