NYC gunman was targeting NFL but took wrong elevator: Mayor Adams

Graphic Warning: This story contains graphic topics that may be disturbing. Discretion is advised.

(NewsNation) — The man who fatally shot four people in a high-rise office building in Manhattan before turning the gun on himself was targeting the headquarters of the National Football League, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday.

Investigators believe 27-year-old Shane Tamura mistakenly took the wrong elevator, leading him to Rudin Management instead, Adams told NewsNation local affiliate WPIX.

Tamura reportedly had a three-page suicide note inside his pocket, which claimed he had a brain injury from a contact sport and blamed the NFL. Tamura, who played high school football, reportedly wanted his brain studied after his death. An official motive has not yet been released.

2 New York shooting victims identified

On Tuesday, investment management company Blackstone confirmed executive Wesley LePatner was killed in the shooting. LePatner’s colleagues described her as “brilliant, passionate, warm, generous, and deeply respected within our firm.”

Didarul Islam, 36, was a veteran of the New York Police Department for more than three years. He left behind a wife — who is eight months pregnant — and two young sons, according to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.

“My heart is with his loved ones, his NYPD family and every victim of this tragedy,” she said in a statement.

An NFL employee was among those shot at a Manhattan office building Monday, the league’s commissioner said in a letter to employees obtained by NewsNation.

“One of our employees was seriously injured in this attack. He is currently in the hospital and in stable condition. NFL staff are at the hospital and we are supporting his family,” the letter reads.

“We believe that all of our employees are otherwise safe and accounted for,” it continued.

  • New York Police Department officers stand next to ambulance
  • New York Police Department officer stands outside building
  • New York State Police troopers gather on 52nd Street outside a Manhattan office building
  • pedestrians duck under police tape while walking in NYC
  • Police walk on the corner of Lexington Avenue and 53rd Street, in New York
  • New York Police Department officers arrive on the corner of Lexington Avenue and 53rd Street
  • NYPD cars parked in Manhattan

Manhattan office building shooting: What happened

Tamura was seen on surveillance footage getting out of a black BMW and carrying an M4 rifle. He then walked into 345 Park Avenue — a 44-story building housing financial firms, the NFL and more — and immediately shot an NYPD officer, police said.

He then reportedly shot a woman trying to hide behind a pillar in the lobby, a guard behind the security desk and another man.

Officials said Tamura allowed a different woman to walk out of an elevator and into the lobby without injuring her. He then went up to the 33rd floor, Rudin Management’s office, and fired multiple rounds as he walked through the room, killing another person on that floor, officials said.

He then went down a hallway and shot himself in the chest, the NYPD said.

Tamura drove from Nevada to New York to commit the crime, the Associated Press reported.

“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,” Hochul said. “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. 

NewsNation’s Patrick Djordjevic and Brittney Donovan contributed to this report.

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