The gunman who killed four people in a Mahattan business center planned to attack the headquarters of the National Football League (NFL), but chose the wrong elevator, New York Mayor Eric Adams said.
Investigators say Shane Tamura of Las Vegas intended to enter NFL facilities after shooting patrons in the building's lobby Monday but accidentally chose the wrong booth, the mayor said in an interview Tuesday.
The incident left four people dead, including an off-duty New York police officer.
Law enforcement agencies clarified that Tamura had a history of mental health issues. A tattered note found on him pointed to claims against the NFL – the man claimed to suffer from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), despite the lack of evidence.
Eighteen years before the events, he played on a high school football team in California, but did not build a professional career in the league.
“He apparently blamed it on the NFL,” the mayor explained. “The league was in the building, but he took the wrong elevator.”
The suicide note mentioned CTE, a progressive brain injury associated with repeated head injuries in contact sports, and the author insisted on having his brain examined after his death, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
One of them noted that the NFL was also mentioned in the text.
The document cited former NFL player Terry Long, who was diagnosed with CTE, and his suicide in 2005, and accused the NFL of covering up athletes' health risks for financial gain.
League Commissioner Roger Goodell described the incident as “unspeakable cruelty within our walls,” and expressed gratitude to law enforcement officers, including the fallen officer, who “sacrificed his life to save others.”
The emergency occurred in a high-rise complex where the offices of the NFL and Blackstone, a global investment giant, as well as other tenants, are based.
Blackstone confirmed the death of employee Wesley LePatner. “Words cannot express our sorrow,” the statement read. “Wesley was an integral part of our team, a brilliant mind, a warm soul, and a professional presence.”
According to the company's website, the Yale graduate served as a managing director of real estate, with a decade of experience at Goldman Sachs before joining Blackstone in 2014.
CCTV cameras captured the man exiting a BMW parked several rows away with an M4 rifle in his hands around 6:30 p.m. and walking toward the building through a public area.
He opened fire, killing a corporate security officer, then wounded a woman who tried to take cover as the lobby was shelled, according to Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
The attacker moved to the elevator bank, where he shot dead a security guard at the post and another person in the lobby, the police spokeswoman added.
“Our officer died at the right entrance immediately after the intruder entered the building,” Adams told the TV station. “Judging by the footage, he first walked past, then turned around, noticed the officer and fired several shots.”
Having taken the elevator up to the 33rd floor to the office of the management company Rudin (the owner of the building), the man killed another person there, and then committed suicide. The complex at 345 Park Avenue also houses the representative office of the audit firm KPMG.
As Tish clarified at the briefing, the deceased officer was 36-year-old Didarul Islam, a native of Bangladesh with three years of experience in the New York police.
“He did his duty. He took a risk consciously. He made the ultimate sacrifice,” the commissioner said. “He died a hero, and he lived like one.”
Blackstone has confirmed the death of Wesley LePatner, a senior managing director of real estate.
Union representatives reported the death of security guard Aland Etienne.
The Rudin family, which owns the building through Rudin Management, confirmed the loss of an employee, whose name is being withheld at the request of the family.
Law enforcement officers discovered the body of a woman on the 33rd floor in the office of the management company.
Roger Goodell said in a statement that a league employee was seriously injured and is in stable condition. No other staff members were hurt. The identity of the injured person was not specified.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
