A Las Vegas man armed with a high-powered rifle entered an office building in midtown Manhattan on Monday and opened fire, killing four people, including an off-duty New York City police officer, and wounding another before killing himself, officials say.
The shooting occurred at 345 Park Ave., a 44-story high-rise whose tenants include the National Football League and the financial services firms KPMG and Blackstone.
The gunman was identified as 27-year-old Shane Tamura. According to multiple news outlets, Tamura was carrying a note that suggested he was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a brain disease caused by head trauma that has been linked to NFL players.
The note reportedly made reference to Terry Long, a former offensive lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers who killed himself in 2005 by drinking antifreeze.
“Study my brain please,” the note said, according to the New York Times. “I’m sorry.”
How the shooting unfolded
An NYPD officer outside 345 Park Ave., the site of the shooting. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)
According to police, surveillance footage showed the gunman exit a double-parked BMW around 6:30 p.m. carrying an M4 rifle, walk across a public plaza and enter the building. Once inside the lobby, he began “spraying it with gunfire,” New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
Tamura shot four people in the lobby, including the NYPD officer, who was working as a corporate security detail, and another security guard, officials said. He then took the elevator to the 33rd-floor offices of Rudin, a building management firm, where he shot and killed another person before fatally shooting himself in the chest.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that it appeared Tamura was trying to get to the NFL offices but took the wrong elevator. The league’s offices are on the fifth through eighth floors.
“He mistakenly went up the wrong elevator bank,” Adams said.
A police officer arrives at the scene of the shooting. (Angelina Katsanis/AP)
Employees on other floors barricaded themselves when they heard the gunfire.
Jessica Chen told ABC News she was watching a presentation on the second floor when she heard multiple shots go off “in quick succession” on the floor below her. Chen said she and dozens of others rushed into a conference room, barricaded themselves inside using tables and “just stayed still.”
She texted her parents, saying she loved them.
“I think it was very, very apparent through all this that a lot of us were young, a lot of us went through training in elementary school of what to do in an active shooter situation,” Chen added. “We were all unfortunately prepared.”
Staffers throughout the building were told to shelter in place.
What we know about the victims
New York Police Department Officer Didarul Islam. (NYPD)
The off-duty NYPD officer killed in the shooting was identified as 36-year-old Didarul Islam, a married father of two whose wife is pregnant with their third child and is due to give birth next month.
Islam, who emigrated to the United States from Bangladesh, was a member of the NYPD’s 47th Precinct in the Bronx. He had been with the NYPD for more than three years.
In a post on X, FBI Director Kash Patel said that Islam “acted quickly and heroically putting himself in harm’s way to defend others.”
“He made the ultimate sacrifice,” Tisch said. “He died as he lived: a hero.”
Aland Etienne (Gathmand Etienne/Facebook)
Another security guard killed in the lobby was identified by his union as 46-year-old Aland Etienne.
In a statement, 32BJ Service Employees International Union president Manny Pastreich remembered Etienne as a “dedicated security officer who took his job duties extremely seriously.”
“This tragedy speaks to the sacrifice of security officers who risk their lives every day to keep New Yorkers and our buildings safe,” Pastreich added. “Every time a security officer puts on their uniform, they put their lives on the line. Their contributions to our city are essential, though often unappreciated. Aland Etienne is a New York hero. We will remember him as such.”
Wesley LePatner, a Blackstone executive. (Blackstone)
Wesley LePatner, a 43-year-old real estate executive at Blackstone, was among those killed in the shooting.
“Words cannot express the devastation we feel,” the company said in a statement. “Wesley was a beloved member of the Blackstone family and will be sorely missed. She was brilliant, passionate, warm, generous, and deeply respected within our firm and beyond.”
According to her LinkedIn profile, LePatner was a Yale graduate who joined the firm in 2014 after spending more than a decade at Goldman Sachs. She also served on the board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Rudin issued a statement confirming that one of its employees had been killed but did not release that person’s name.
New York Mayor Eric Adams attends a dignified transfer of Islam’s body. (Eric Adams via X/Handout via Reuters)
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said that one of the league’s employees was “seriously injured” in the shooting.
“One of our employees was seriously injured in this attack,” Goodell wrote in a memo to staff late Monday, according to Yahoo Sports. “He is currently in the hospital and in stable condition. NFL staff are at the hospital and we are supporting his family.”
What we know about the gunman
An undated image of Shane Tamura. (Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles via AP)
Tamura lived in Las Vegas and worked nights as a surveillance department employee at Caesars’ Horseshoe hotel and casino.
Tisch said he had a “documented mental health history.”
ABC News reported that Tamura had “mental health crisis holds” placed on him in 2022 and 2024.
“Those holds typically allow a person to be detained for up to 72 hours if they are thought to be a danger to themselves or others,” per ABC News.
Authorities believe that Tamura had recently driven across the country. License plate readers spotted his vehicle in Colorado on Saturday, Nebraska and Iowa on Sunday, and in New Jersey on Monday afternoon before it entered New York City.
Inside the vehicle, police found a rifle case with rounds, ammunition magazines and a loaded revolver, as well as prescription medication, Tisch said.
The commissioner said Tamura had a license to carry a concealed weapon in the state of Nevada, adding: “We believe this to be a lone shooter.”
Former classmates stunned
Tamura in an interview from when he played for the Granada Hills high school football team. (Movies of Century/YouTube)
Tamura attended high school at Granada Hills Charter School in Los Angeles, where he played football.
Former classmates, teammates and coaches told NBC News that they were shocked to learn Tamura was a suspect in the shooting.
“This is so shocking,” said Anthony Michael Leon, a former teammate. “I’m telling you, this was one of those kids who never exerted bad energy or a negative attitude.”
“You never would have thought violence was something you’d associate with him,” said Caleb Clarke, a former classmate.
Walter Roby, his former football coach, remembered Tamura as a talented running back.
“He came in, worked hard, kept his nose down,” Roby said. “He was a quiet kid, well-mannered, very coachable. Whatever needed to be done, he would do.”
Roby said he was stunned to hear that Tamura was identified as the suspect in Monday’s rampage.
“I’m just blown away right now,” Roby said.
Trump briefed on shooting
Tamura’s residence in Las Vegas. (Ty O’Neil/AP)
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday morning, President Trump, who was on an overseas trip to Europe, said he had been briefed on “the tragic shooting that took place in Manhattan, a place that I know and love.”
“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!”
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump was asked whether he had spoken with any of the families of the victims.
“I don’t want to tell you that,” the president said.
