On Monday night at 6:28 p.m., 911 calls began pouring in from a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper, where a gunman had opened fire. The high-rise houses the NFL league headquarters and offices for several other prominent companies.
Authorities believe the shooter was focused on the NFL when he entered the building and killed four people and injured a fifth, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday morning. The gunman then shot and killed himself. A note found in his wallet was critical of the NFL and mentioned CTE, the degenerative brain disease associated with repeated hits to the head.
Here’s what we know about the situation:
Who was the gunman?
Shane Tamura of Las Vegas was identified as the shooter by New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
Tamura, 27, was seen on surveillance footage exiting a black BMW shortly before 6:30 p.m. on Monday, carrying an assault rifle in his right hand. He wore sunglasses, a navy blazer and a blue dress shirt as he walked into the building at 345 Park Ave., between 51st and 52nd Streets.
Tisch said law enforcement partners in Las Vegas shared that Tamura had a documented history of mental health issues, and he appeared to have driven across the country in his BMW, which is registered to him in Nevada.
Tamura never played football in the NFL or in college, but he did play in high school in California, according to MaxPreps. He appeared on the roster for Granada Hills Charter in 2015, where his positions were listed as running back and defensive back.
Walter Roby, Tamura’s coach at Granada Hills, told Fox 11 that Tamura was a quiet, hard-working player.
“Could I have done more? Could I help the kid? Could I have reached out to him or could you reach out to me? It’s just a lot of things I’m trying to process right now,” Roby said.
What was in Tamura’s note?
According to The New York Times, Tamura left a three-page note in his wallet criticizing the NFL for concealing the dangers of playing football.
Adams said Tuesday that the note referenced CTE, which can only be diagnosed through an autopsy.
“The motive appeared to be connected to the shooter’s belief that he was suffering from CTE and (a claim that) he was an ex-NFL player,” Adams told CNN. “Those items just don’t pan out. He never played for the NFL.”
In the excerpts of the note reported by The Times, Tamura mentions former NFL player Terry Long, who died by suicide in 2005. Long, an offensive lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1984 to 1991, was diagnosed with CTE after his death.
Tamura’s note was found in his wallet after he fatally shot himself in the chest. Former NFL players Junior Seau and Dave Duerson also died after shooting themselves in the chest. Both were diagnosed with CTE after their deaths.
Duerson’s final note to his family finished with: “Please, see that my brain is given to the NFL’s brain bank.”
In Tamura’s letter, he wrote: “Study my brain please. I’m sorry.”
Where did the shooting happen?
The NFL has offices on multiple floors in the high-rise building at 345 Park Ave. Other companies with offices in the building include Deutsche Bank, the financial firm KPMG and investment management firm Blackstone.
The building is located blocks from Grand Central Terminal and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in a heavily trafficked area of Midtown Manhattan.
Once Tamura was inside the building, he shot four people on the ground floor, killing three of them, including a uniformed New York City police officer and a security guard. He then got on an elevator, allowing a woman to exit unharmed, and went to the 33rd floor, where he killed another person before shooting himself.
Adams said investigators believe Tamura wanted to reach the NFL offices, but he took the wrong elevator.
What do we know about the victims?
A high-ranking NFL employee told The Athletic’s Dianna Russini that an employee in the league’s finance department — identified in an NFL memo to team owners as Craig Clementi — was struck in the back by a bullet during the shooting.
“One of our employees was seriously injured in this attack,” Goodell said in a statement to NFL staff. “He is currently in the hospital and in stable condition. NFL staff are at the hospital and we are supporting his family.”
Police officer Didarul Islam, a three-year veteran of the NYPD and an immigrant from Bangladesh, was among the deceased, Adams shared. Blackstone said an executive, Wesley LePatner, was also among the victims. Another victim, security guard Aland Etienne, was identified by the union 32BJ.
(Top photo: Timothy Clary / AFP via Getty Images)
