Gunman who killed 4 at Manhattan office building was trying to get to NFL offices, claimed to have CTE: Officials

NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that a gunman who killed four people at a Manhattan office building was trying to target the headquarters of the National Football League but took the wrong elevator.

Investigators believe Shane Tamura was trying to get to the NFL offices after shooting several people in the building’s lobby but accidentally entered the wrong set of elevator banks, Adams said in interviews on Tuesday.

Four people, including an off-duty New York City police officer, were killed. Police said the shooter had a history of mental illness, and a rambling note found on his body suggested he had a grievance against the NFL over an unsubstantiated claim that he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy. He had played football in high school in California nearly two decades ago.

The note claimed he had been suffering from CTE — the degenerative brain disease that has been linked to concussions and other repeated head trauma common in contact sports like football — and said his brain should be studied after he died, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

It also specifically referenced the National Football League, the person said.

A motive has not been determined but investigators were looking into, based on the note, whether he might’ve specifically targeted the building because it is home to the NFL’s headquarters.

The shooting took place at a skyscraper that is home to the headquarters of both the NFL and Blackstone, one of the world’s largest investment firms, as well as other tenants.

A message sent to Blackstone employees, and obtained by The Associated Press, said a staff member at the private equity firm was killed in Monday’s shooting, but their identity was not immediately released.

Surveillance video showed the man exiting a double-parked BMW just before 6:30 p.m. carrying an M4 rifle, then marching across a public plaza into the building. Then, he started firing, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said, killing a police officer working a corporate security detail and then hitting a woman who tried to take cover as he sprayed the lobby with gunfire.

The man then made his way to the elevator bank and shot a guard at a security desk and shot another man in the lobby, the commissioner said.

The man took the elevator to the 33rd floor offices of the company that owned the building, Rudin Management, and shot and killed one person on that floor. The man then shot himself, the commissioner said. The building, 345 Park Avenue, also holds offices of the financial services firm KPMG.

The officer killed was Didarul Islam, 36, an immigrant from Bangladesh who had served as a police officer in New York City for 3 1/2 years, Tisch said at a news conference.

“He was doing the job that we asked him to do. He put himself in harm’s way. He made the ultimate sacrifice,” Tisch said. “He died as he lived. A hero.” A gunman who killed four people inside a Manhattan office tower blamed his mental health problems on the National Football League and intended to target the league’s headquarters upstairs but took the wrong elevator, officials said Tuesday.

Investigators said Shane Tamura, a Las Vegas casino worker, was carrying a handwritten note in his wallet that claimed he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, known at CTE, and accused the league of hiding the dangers of brain injuries linked to contact sports.

Tamura, 27, shot several people in the skyscraper’s lobby and another in a 33rd-floor office on Monday before he killed himself, authorities said. Among the victims were an off-duty New York City police officer and a security guard.

The attacker's grievances with the NFL emerged as police began piecing together the details of his life and the cross-country road trip that brought him to Manhattan. It's unclear if Tamura showed symptoms of CTE, which can only be diagnosed by examining the brain after a person dies.

Tamura, who played high school football in California a decade ago but never played in the NFL, had a history of mental illness, police said. In the three-page note found on his body, he accused the NFL of concealing the dangers to players’ brains for profit. The degenerative brain disease has been linked to concussions and other repeated head trauma common in contact sports such as football

In the note, Tamura repeatedly said he was sorry and asked that his brain be studied for CTE. He mentioned a PBS Frontline documentary about the disease and referenced former NFL player Terry Long, who was diagnosed with CTE, and the manner in which Long killed himself in 2005.

The NFL long denied the link between football and CTE, but it acknowledged the connection in 2016 testimony before Congress and has paid more than $1.4 billion to retired players to settle concussion-related claims.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who works out of the offices, called the shooting “an unspeakable act of violence in our building,” saying he was deeply grateful to the law enforcement officers who responded and to the one who gave his life to protect others.

Goodell said in a memo to staff that a league employee was seriously injured in the attack and was hospitalized in stable condition.

The shooting happened along Park Avenue, one the nation’s most recognized streets, and just blocks from Grand Central Terminal and Rockefeller Center. It's also 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 attack drew a response from the White House, with President Donald Trump posting on social media, "My heart is with the families of the four people who were killed, including the NYPD Officer, who made the ultimate sacrifice.”

Tamura, who worked security at the Horseshoe Las Vegas but failed to show up to his shift Sunday, drove across the country over the past few days and into New York City just before the attack, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

Detectives plan to question a man who supplied parts for the AR-15-style rifle Tamura used Monday, including the weapon’s lower receiver, she said during a news conference.

Surveillance video showed Tamura getting out of a BMW early Monday evening and strolling across a plaza in a button-down shirt and jacket with the rifle at his side before he entered the building, which also has offices for the investment firm Blackstone and other companies. It was closed Tuesday except to investigators.

Once inside, he sprayed the lobby with gunfire, killing Didarul Islam, the off-duty police officer who was working a corporate security detail, and hitting a woman who tried to take cover, Tisch said. He then made his way to the elevator bank, shooting a guard at a security desk and another man in the lobby, she said.

“He appeared to have first walked past the officer and then he turned to his right, and saw him and discharged several rounds,” Adams said in a TV interview.

Tamura took an elevator to the 33rd-floor offices of the company that owns the building, Rudin Management, and shot and killed someone there before fatally shooting himself, the commissioner said. He shot himself in the chest, according to Adams.

Blackstone confirmed that one of its employees, real estate executive Wesley LePatner, was among those killed. Security officer Aland Etienne also died, according to a labor union.

Islam, 36, had served as a police officer in New York City for three-and-a-half years and was an immigrant from Bangladesh, Tisch said. He was working a department-approved second job, in his New York Police Department uniform, providing security Monday at the Park Avenue building.

His body was draped in the NYPD flag as it was moved from the hospital to an ambulance, with fellow officers standing at attention.

Islam leaves behind a pregnant wife and two children. Friends and family stopped by their Bronx home on Tuesday to drop off food and pay their respects.

“He was a very friendly guy and a hardworking guy,” said Tanjim Talukdar, who knew him best from Friday prayers. “Whenever I see him or he sees me, he says ’How are you, my brother?”