NEW YORK (AP) — A man with a rifle killed an off-duty New York City police officer and three other people before taking his own life at a Manhattan office tower on Monday, according to officials.
Law enforcement officials were working to unravel what took place and why this location may have been targeted in a city that recently announced it was on pace to have its fewest people hurt by gunfire of any year in recent decades.
Here are some things to know:
What happened?A man exited a double parked BMW with an M4 rifle and then walked toward the skyscraper on Monday evening, according to surveillance video. He opened fire on the NYPD officer as he entered the building before shooting a woman who tried to take cover and “spraying” the lobby with gunfire, police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference.
The gunman shot a security guard taking cover behind a desk and another man in the lobby, Tisch said. The gunman took the elevator to the 33rd floor to a real estate management company and one person was fatally shot on that floor before he shot himself, the commissioner said.
What do we know about the gunman?Police identified Shane Tamura of Las Vegas as the gunman. He worked in the surveillance department at the Horseshoe Las Vegas casino, the company confirmed.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that investigators believe the gunman was trying to target the headquarters of the National Football League but accidentally entered the wrong set of elevator banks.
Tamura, who played high school football in California nearly two decades ago but never in the NFL, had a history of mental illness, police said.
No one answered the door at the address listed for Tamura in Las Vegas.
What did the gunman say in a note he left behind?A three-page note found in Tamura's wallet suggested he had a grievance against the NFL over a claim that he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The degenerative brain disease has been linked to concussions and other repeated head trauma common in contact sports such as football, but it can only be diagnosed after someone has died.
In the note, Tamura repeatedly said he was sorry and asked that his brain be studied for CTE, according to the police department.
Who were the victims?Didarul Islam, 36, had served as a police officer in New York City for 3 1/2 years. He was an immigrant from Bangladesh. Islam was married and had two young boys, Tisch said. His wife is pregnant with their third child.
Blackstone, one of the world’s largest investment firms, confirmed one of its employees, Wesley LePatner, was among those killed. A Yale graduate, LePatner was a real estate executive, according to Blackstone’s website, and spent more than a decade at Goldman Sachs before joining the firm in 2014.
“She was brilliant, passionate, warm, generous, and deeply respected within our firm and beyond,” the firm said in a statement.
A labor union identified the security officer killed as Aland Etienne. His death “speaks to the sacrifice of security officers” who risk their lives to keep New Yorkers safe, Manny Pastreich, president of Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, said in a statement Tuesday. State records show Etienne was licensed as an unarmed security guard since 2017.
“Aland Etienne is a New York hero,” Pastreich said. “We will remember him as such.”
The Rudin family, which owns the building and Rudin Management, said in a statement that one of their employees was one of the shooting victims. They did not disclose the person’s name at the request of their family.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a memo to staff that a league employee was seriously injured in the attack and was now stable at a hospital. He said that “all of our employees are otherwise safe and accounted for.”
Where did the shooting happen?The shooting took place in a busy area of midtown at 345 Park Avenue, a commercial office building on one the nation’s most recognized streets near Grand Central Terminal, Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It’s less than a 15-minute walk from where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed last December by a man who prosecutors say was angry over corporate greed.
The building houses offices for companies including the NFL and real estate company Rudin, as well as finance companies KPMG and Blackstone. It also includes the consulate general of Ireland.