Midtown Manhattan Horror 4 Dead Including Policeman``What Happened?
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| Killer: 27 Yrs Old from las Vegas with History of Mental Business |
New York Times
What happened?
At 6:28 p.m., multiple 911 calls came in about a shooter inside 345 Park Avenue, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference on Monday night.
The gunman drove up in a black BMW and stepped out of the car carrying an AR-15-style rifle. He entered the lobby of the building and immediately opened fire on a New York police officer. He struck another woman and man and sprayed the lobby with gunfire as he made his way to the elevator, where he shot a security guard who was taking cover behind a desk.
The New York Times
A woman came out of the elevator, and the gunman let her walk past him unharmed, Ms. Tisch said. Then he went up to the 33rd floor, Rudin Management’s office, where he fatally shot a woman before shooting himself in the chest.
Who were the victims?
Four people were killed, including the police officer, whom officials identified as Didarul Islam, 36. Mr. Islam was assigned to a Bronx precinct and was one of two officers working a paid security detail at 345 Park Avenue, Ms. Tisch said.
Mr. Islam, an immigrant from Bangladesh, was a three-and-a-half-year veteran of the police department, officials said. He had two children, and his wife is pregnant with their third child. “He died a hero,” Ms. Tisch said.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the investment firm Blackstone said one of its employees, Wesley LePatner, had died in the shooting. “Our prayers are with her husband, children and family,” the company said.
Another man and woman were also fatally shot, and a man was critically wounded, officials said. The police did not release details about the other victims. The shooter died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest, Mayor Eric Adams said.
Who was the gunman?
Officials identified the shooter as Shane Tamura, a 27-year-old man from Las Vegas. He had driven across the country from Nevada, and arrived in the city just hours before the shooting in Manhattan, they said.
Mr. Tamura had “a documented mental health history,” Ms. Tisch said, without elaborating, adding that he appeared to have acted alone. He was licensed to carry a gun in Nevada, she said.
Investigators searched the gunman’s vehicle at the scene, and inside found a rifle case with rounds, a loaded revolver, ammunition and magazines, as well as a backpack and medication prescribed to Mr. Tamura, Ms. Tisch said.
Mr. Tamura’s car was recorded passing through Colorado on Saturday, then Nebraska and Iowa on Sunday, before he arrived in New York City on Monday afternoon, officials said.
What was the gunman’s motive?
Investigators said on Tuesday that they were probing whether the gunman had specifically targeted the headquarters of the N.F.L. inside the building.
A three-page note found on the gunman mentioned the league, as well as claims that the gunman had the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., the police said. It asks that his brain be examined for signs of C.T.E., which afflicts people who sustain repeated head trauma (as is common in football), and accuses the league of concealing the dangers of the game. C.T.E. can only be diagnosed after a person’s death.
Some people later found to have C.T.E., including former N.F.L. players, have experienced symptoms including impulsive behavior, depression and suicidal thoughts. Mr. Tamura had played high school football in Southern California as a running back, according to a former teammate. C.T.E. has been found even in young football players who only played the sport at the high school or college level.
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