Officials believe suspect may have targeted NFL in Manhattan office shooting, mayor Eric Adams says
The gunman who opened fire in a Manhattan office building left a note that appeared to blame the National Football League for his brain injury, New York mayor Eric Adams said.
Two officials familiar with the matter previously told NBC News that in the note found at the shooting scene, the suspect wondered about CTE – a brain condition caused by head trauma – as a possible cause of his mental illness.
“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. He appeared to have blamed the NFL for his injury,” Adams said in an interview with CBS’s “This Morning”.
The skyscraper where the shooting occurred Monday evening houses the NFL headquarters.
In an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”, Adams was asked about a possible link, noting that while the suspect, Shane Tamura, didn’t play college football, he did play at his California high school.
“He talked about CTE. He was not an NFL player. We have reason to believe that he was focused on the NFL agency that was located in the building, and we’re going to continue to investigate with our federal partners to ensure that we can find a reason and identify any other weapons,” Adams responded.
Key events
Third victim identified as Julia Hyman in media reports
The third of four victims in last night’s shooting has been identified as Julia Hyman, according to the New York Post.
Hyman was killed on the 33rd floor of the office tower, where she worked for Rudin Management as an associate, reports the Post. She graduated from Cornell in 2020.
The three other victims were all shot in the lobby of the building. They have been identified as NYPD officer Didarul Islam, Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner, and the third is believed to be a security guard for the building who has not yet been named.
The shooter’s intended target was the NFL offices in the building, according to NYC mayor Eric Adams. He took the wrong elevator and ended up on the 33rd floor offices of Rudin Management, where he opened fire again before shooting himself.
The UJA Federation of New York, a Jewish philanthropic organization, released a statement memorializing Wesley LePatner, who was a member of the group’s board of directors.
“We are devastated by the tragic loss of Wesley LePatner, a beloved member of UJA’s community and a member of our board of directors, who was killed in yesterday’s mass shooting in Midtown.
Wesley was extraordinary in every way — personally, professionally, and philanthropically. An exceptional leader in the financial world, she brought thoughtfulness, vision, and compassion to everything she did. In 2023, we honored her with the Alan C. Greenberg Young Leadership Award at our Wall Street Dinner, recognizing her commitment to our community and her remarkable achievements, all the more notable as a woman in a traditionally male-dominated field.
In the wake of October 7, Wesley led a solidarity mission with UJA to Israel, demonstrating her enduring commitment in Israel’s moment of heartache. She lived with courage and conviction, instilling in her two children a deep love for Judaism and the Jewish people.
We mourn the loss of a life taken far too soon and extend our heartfelt condolences to her husband, Evan; her children; and her entire family.
May Wesley’s memory be for a blessing — and a lasting source of strength and inspiration.”
Several bunches of flowers are now attached to the railing of a ramp leading to the Park Avenue building’s front door, along with a yellow balloon with the words “LOVE ONE ANOTHER!!” written on it.
A spokesman for audit and advisory firm KPMG said in a statement their office at 345 Park Avenue will be closed on Tuesday, reports Reuters.
No KPMG employees were injured in the shooting, according to a post by chair and CEO Tim Walsh and US managing principal Atif Zaim on the company’s LinkedIn page.
“Our hearts are with the victims of this horrific act and their families, as well as all of our neighbors in 345 Park. This was a terrible, tragic, and frightening event. We are incredibly grateful for the bravery of building security and law enforcement. At this time, we are not aware of any significant physical injuries to our KPMG colleagues,” the statement on LinkedIn said.
New York governor calls for national assault weapons ban after Manhattan office shooting
New York governor Kathy Hochul is calling for Congress to pass a national assault weapons ban following yesterday’s shooting in Manhattan which killed four people.
In a statement this morning, Hochul noted the suspect used an AR-15-style assault rifle, a commonly used weapon in mass shootings in the US.
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. 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.
The time to act is now. The American people are tired of thoughts and prayers. They deserve action.
Congress must summon the courage to stand up to the gun lobby and finally pass a national assault weapons ban before more innocent lives are stolen.
The shooter was a Las Vegas resident. He had appeared to have driven over three days to reach New York City.
Hochul also condemned the shooting as a “horrific act of violence” and paid tribute to NYPD officer Didarul Islam.
“My heart is with his loved ones, his NYPD family and every victim of this tragedy,” Hochul said.
Here is my colleague Ed Pilkington’s report:
An NFL employee was also injured in the shooting and was in stable condition at a hospital, according to a memo sent by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to league staff.
Goodell wrote there would be “increased security presence” at the league’s offices “in the days and weeks to come”, ESPN reported.
He also said employees based in New York should work remotely Tuesday or could take the day off.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a serious brain disease with no known treatment that can be caused by repeated bangs to the head from contact sports. It has been linked to aggression and dementia, and the NFL has paid an estimated $1bn to settle concussion-related lawsuits with thousands of retired players after the deaths of several high-profile players, Reuters reports.
Tamura was never an NFL player, but online records show he played in high school. The note found in his wallet said his football career was cut short by his brain injury, Bloomberg News reported.
The suspect, Shane Tamura, appeared to have driven to New York City from Las Vegas over three days and to have acted alone, New York police commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters last night.
He entered the skyscraper’s lobby, turned to his right and immediately shot the NYPD officer, Didarul Islam, who was assigned to the building’s security detail.
Tisch said Tamura used an M4 Carbine, a semi-automatic rifle popular with civilian US gun enthusiasts modeled on a fully automatic rifle used in the military.
He then shot a woman and two men in the lobby but inexplicably allowed another woman to pass him unharmed before he took the elevator to the 33rd-floor offices of Rudin Management.
There he fatally shot his final victim before taking his own life, Tisch said.
A widely circulated photo showed the permit issued to Tamura by the Las Vegas metropolitan police department allowing him to legally carry a concealed firearm.
An additional weapon – a loaded revolver – was later recovered from the black BMW vehicle Tamura had left double-parked outside the office tower, along with a backpack and prescription medications, Tisch said.
To recap, the gunman who opened fire in a Manhattan office building left a note that appeared to blame the National Football League for a brain injury, New York mayor Eric Adams has said on the airwaves this morning.
The suspect, Shane Tamura, 27, brought the carnage to an end not long after it began on Monday evening by fatally shooting himself in the chest on the 33rd floor of the Park Avenue skyscraper. The building houses NFL headquarters.
Adams said the preliminary investigation shows the gunman took the wrong elevator bank and, instead of getting to NFL headquarters, ended up at Rudin Management, which owns the building at 345 Park Avenue.
“That is where he carried out additional shootings and took the lives of additional employees,” Adams told CBS this morning.
A security staffer remained hospitalized in critical condition, Adams said. The gunman shot a woman in the lobby, then a security guard who was hiding behind the counter, he said.
Four people, including the security guard – an off-duty New York City police officer – and a Blackstone real estate executive, were killed.
In what Adams called an “uncanny episode”, the gunman allowed a woman to walk past him without shooting before taking the elevator up to Rudin and discharging multiple rounds there.
The NYPD officer has been identified as Didarul Islam, an immigrant from Bangladesh and a father of two whose wife is pregnant. He was working off-hours as a security guard at the time. Adams described him as a “true blue hero”.
Blackstone released a statement identifying the executive as Wesley LePatner. “Words cannot express the devastation we feel,” the statement read.
Here’s a little more on the note left by the shooter, in which he 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, two people familiar with the matter told the Associated Press.
Trump condemns ‘senseless act of violence’
Donald Trump has condemned the “senseless act of violence” in which four people were killed in the Manhattan office shooting.
“I have been briefed on the tragic shooting that took place in Manhattan, a place that I know and love,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “I trust our Law Enforcement Agencies to get to the bottom of why this crazed lunatic committed such a senseless act of violence.”
“My heart is with the families of the four people who were killed, including the NYPD Officer, who made the ultimate sacrifice,” he added.
The president will return to the US from Scotland tonight.
The New York Times reports that the mayor, Eric Adams, also said on Good Day New York that the shooter had intended to go to the NFL offices on the lower floors of 345 Park Avenue but “appeared to have gone to the wrong floor”.
“There are two different elevator banks,” Adams said. “Some banks don’t go to every floor. He appeared to have gone to the wrong bank, and he ended up on the floor of Rudin Management.”
