Shane Tamura, the gunman who killed four people and himself in a New York City office building in July, had CTE, a degenerative brain disease linked to head injuries sustained in football and other contact sports.
The New York medical examiner “found unambiguous diagnostic evidence of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE, in the brain tissue of the decedent,” according to a statement. “The findings correspond with the classification of low-stage CTE, according to current consensus criteria.”
The 27-year-old, who took his own life, was a high school football player at Granada Hills Charter School in the San Fernando Valley and Golden Valley High in Santa Clarita.
Tamura drove this summer from Nevada — where he worked as a security guard at the Horseshoe Las Vegas hotel and casino — to New York, leaving behind a three-page suicide note stating that he believed he had CTE and that his motive was anger at the NFL for making profit a priority over players’ brain safety.
“Football gave me CTE,” Tamura reportedly wrote. “Study my brain please.”
Tamura entered the skyscraper on Park Avenue that houses NFL headquarters but ended up on the wrong floor. He killed police officer Didarul Islam, security guard Aland Etienne, Blackstone senior executive Wesley LePatner and real estate employee Julie Hyman. He also shot and wounded NFL employee Craig Clementi before killing himself with a shot to the chest.
CTE, caused by concussions and non-concussive impacts, tends to be diagnosed mostly in those who have played football for a decade or longer. However, four years of high school football could expose a player to CTE, said Chris Nowinski, co-founder of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit group that supports athletes and others affected by CTE and concussions.
“The odds of having CTE are best correlated to the number of seasons played,” Nowinski said. “The best window we have is we have studied 45 former high school players who died before 30, and 31% had CTE.”
Daniel Daneshvar, chief of brain injury rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School, said high school football players warrant greater study and treatment.
“Can a high school player get it? Yes,” Daneshvar recently told The Times. “Of the 3.97 million football players in this country, those that are playing at the college and the professional level are less than 4%, so we’re talking about over 96% of people are playing at some youth or high school level.”
Nowinski stressed that being diagnosed with CTE didn’t necessarily cause Tamura to commit a crime.
“It’s very clear that most people who have developed CTE have not become murderers, and most people have not had extraordinary psychiatric symptoms that involve them to have involuntary psychiatric holds,” Nowinski said.
Tamura was remembered as quiet and respectful in high school. Granada Hills teammate Anthony Michael Leon told NBC News, “This is so shocking. I’m telling you, this was one of those kids who never exerted bad energy or a negative attitude.
“He was quiet, but when he did actually talk, people listened.”
Sept. 26 (UPI) — The gunman who killed four people in a New York City office building housing the NFL had a generative brain disease linked to repeated head injuries while playing sports, the city’s medical examiner’s office said Friday.
On July 28, Shane Tamura, 27, killed himself after opening fire at 345 Park Ave. Tamura’s note said: “Study my brain please. I’m sorry.”
“Following a thorough assessment and extensive analysis by our neuropathology experts, OCME has found unambiguous diagnostic evidence of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE, in the brain tissue of the decedent,” the Office of Chief Medical Examiner said in a statement obtained by ABC News and other media outlets. “The findings correspond with the classification of low-stage CTE, according to current consensus criteria.”
The report added: “CTE may be found in the brains of decedents with a history of repeated exposure to head trauma.”
Pathologists, led by Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham, didn’t say whether CTE played a role in his behavior, including shooting people.
“We continue to grieve the senseless loss of lives, and our hearts remain with the victims’ families and our dedicated employees,” the NFL said in a statement.
“There is no justification for the horrific acts that took place. As the medical examiner notes ‘the science around this condition continues to evolve, and the physical and mental manifestations of CTE remain under study.'”
His family didn’t comment to The New York Times. They had said he suffered from migraines, mental illness and multiple concussions.
Tamura had two Mental Health Crisis Holds on his record, and a prior arrest for trespassing in Nevada, where he also received his concealed carry license.
Tamura, a former high school football player in California, wrote in the three-page note: “The League knowingly concealed the dangers to our brains to maximize profits.”
The note was found in his pocket.
He drove from his apartment in Las Vegas to Manhattan. Authorities said he took the wrong elevator bank and instead reached the offices of Rudin Management, where he again opened fire after spraying bullets across the building’s lobby.
NFL employees were warned during the incident to shelter in place, although the shooter never arrived in those offices.
Four people died in the shooting: NYPD officer Didarul Islam, Blackstone real estate executive Wesley LePatner and Rudin employee Julia Hyman, who was named by the New York Post.
In all, he fired 47 rounds, reloading once.
Researchers have studied cases of former athletes who played in contact and collision sports, including football players, ice hockey players and boxers.
“Being a high school football player is certainly a possibility for CTE,” Dr. Ann McKee, the director of the Boston University CTE, told CBS News. “We have a recent study where we found about 30% of former high school players had CTE. Now that’s a very select group of people. It doesn’t mean 30% of the general population of high school football players have CTE, but it’s a distinct possibility.”
Researchers say the link is not conclusive because most families donate the brains because they were displaying the symptoms.
“There is damage to the frontal lobes, which can damage decision making and judgment,”McKe recently told The Times. “It can also cause impulsivity and rage behaviors, so it’s possible that there’s some connection between brain injury and these behaviors.”
The center has studied thousands of brains of athletes, soldiers and others exposed to brain trauma.
In 2023, the center reported 90% of 376 deceased NFL players’ brains examined were diagnosed with CTE.
Some former NFL players committed suicide, including Dave Duerson, who deliberately shot himself in the chest to preserve the brain. Duerson left a note asking to have his brain studied.
“I would never draw a direct line between someone’s brain pathology and any specific violent act, because the majority of people who have CTE never committed anything like this,” Dr. Daniel H. Daneshvar, chief of brain injury rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School, recently told The Times.
In 2024, the NFL allowed players to wear special head protection, called Guardian Caps.
Also, the NFL changed kickoffs to reduce full-speed tackles.
“They need to do much more than just the helmet design, which is never going to prevent CTE,” McKee told CBS News. It’s really rules of play and styles of play, eliminating the hits to the head that occur in practice as well as games, paying attention to the players, monitoring the players for the number of hits they’ve sustained and actually keep track of the players over time.”
US president says suspect was turned in by someone ‘close to him’ and that he hopes he gets ‘the death penalty’.
Published On 12 Sep 202512 Sep 2025
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United States President Donald Trump has said that “with a high degree of certainty” that the gunman in the killing of right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk has been caught.
Trump said on Friday that a minister, who is also linked to law enforcement, turned in the suspect to authorities. “Somebody that was very close to him,” Trump said.
Trump told Fox & Friends that he hoped the suspect got “the death penalty”.
The FBI and state officials on Thursday released photos and a video of the person they believe is responsible. Kirk was shot as he spoke to a crowd gathered in a courtyard at Utah Valley University in Orem.
The president said he was informed of the suspect’s arrest “five minutes before I walked in” the studio, praising local authorities for their coordination. “They did a great job, everybody worked together. It all worked out,” he said.
Trump paid tribute to Kirk, calling him “the finest person” who was “like a son” to him. He said Kirk was “a brilliant guy” who helped him win the election with TikTok and energised young voters. “I’ve never seen young people go to one person like they did to Charlie,” Trump added.
Deputies from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office respond to a shooting at Evergreen High School near Denver on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of the JCSO
Sept. 10 (UPI) — Three students were injured Wednesday after a gunman opened fire at a Denver-area high school, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said, later adding that the suspect had died.
The shooting happened at around 12:34 p.m. MDT at Evergreen High School, JCSO spokeswoman Jacki Kelley said in a news briefing.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday night that the suspect, a male student, had died from “self-inflicted injuries.”
Authorities initially said the suspect had been injured, but it wasn’t revealed who was responsible. The JCSO said it didn’t believe law enforcement fired any bullets and Kelley declined to provide any details such as a name, age or gender about the shooter due to his age.
“I don’t know if our suspect is even old enough to drive,” she said during the briefing.
Three of the students, including the suspected shooter, were transported to CommonSpirit St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colo., in critical condition. A fourth student was also taken to the hospital, but the cause of their injuries was unclear.
Police evacuated the high school, transporting the student body of about 900 to a reunification point at Bergen Meadow Elementary School. The JCSO said officials cleared Evergreen High School and there was no further threat to the community.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis issued a statement saying his “heart” goes out to the victims and their families.
“I, the Evergreen community and the entire State of Colorado are devastated by this and will keep the victims, as well as their friends and family, in our thoughts,” he said.
“This kind of violence has no place in Colorado, especially our schools where kids should feel safe to lear and grow.”
Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, a shocking act of political violence that brought widespread condemnation.
Hours after the shooting, the suspected gunman was taken into custody, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” President Trump said on Truth Social. “No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us.”
Videos shared on social media show Kirk sitting under a white canopy, speaking to hundreds of people through a microphone, when a loud pop is heard; he suddenly falls back, blood gushing from his neck.
Before he was shot in the neck, he was asked about mass shootings.
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“Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?” an audience member asks.
“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk responds.
Almost immediately, Kirk is shot in the neck. One video shows blood pouring from the wound. As the crowd realizes what has taken place, people are heard screaming and running away.
A source familiar with the investigation told The Times that a bullet struck Kirk’s carotid artery.
Charlie Kirk speaks before his fatal shooting Wednesday at Utah Valley University.
(Tess Crowley / Deseret News / AP)
Utah Valley University police said in an alert that “a single shot was fired on campus toward a visiting speaker” and that it was investigating the shooting.
Law enforcement sources said Kirk was fatally wounded from a considerable distance, perhaps 200 yards away, by a sniper-style shot.
Videos shared on X, show an older man in handcuffs on the ground whom witnesses claimed was the gunman. The man is heard saying, “I have the right to remain silent.” In another video, police escort the man while the crowd jeers him. One woman is heard screaming, “How dare you!”
Earlier Wednesday afternoon, Trump posted a message about the incident on Truth Social.
“We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot. A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!” he said.
Mike Lee, a Utah senator, posted on X shortly after videos circulated online that he was “tracking the situation at Utah Valley University closely.”
“Please join me in praying for Charlie Kirk and the students gathered there,” he said.
The shooting drew immediate words of support and calls for prayers for Kirk from leading conservative politicians.
“Say a prayer for Charlie Kirk, a genuinely good guy and a young father,” Vice President JD Vance posted on X.
Crowd members react after Charlie Kirk’s shooting at Utah Valley University.
(Tess Crowley / Deseret News / AP)
Leading Democrats also moved swiftly to condemn the attack.
“The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on X. “In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form.”
Gabrielle Giffords, a former Arizona congresswoman who survived a political assassination attempt in 2011 and is a gun violence prevention advocate, said on X that she was horrified to hear that Kirk was shot.
“Democratic societies will always have political disagreements, but we must never allow America to become a country that confronts those disagreements with violence,” she wrote.
Kirk, a conservative political activist, was in Utah for his American Comeback Tour, which held its first stop at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
The tour, as with many of his events, had drawn both supporters and protesters. Kirk’s wife and children were at the university when he was shot, Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin posted on X.
Kirk, 31, was one of the Republican Party’s most influential power brokers.
The founder of the influential conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, Kirk had a vast online reach: 1.6 million followers on Rumble, 3.8 million subscribers on YouTube, 5.2 million followers on X and 7.3 million followers on TikTok.
During the 2024 election, he rallied his online followers to support Trump, prompting conservative podcast host Megyn Kelly to say: “It’s not an understatement to say that this man is responsible for helping the Republicans win back the White House and the U.S. Senate.”
Just after Trump was elected for a second time to the presidency last November, Kirk frequently posted to social media from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where he had first-hand influence over which MAGA loyalists Trump named to his Cabinet.
Kirk was known for melding his conservative politics, nationalism and evangelical faith, casting the current political climate as a state of spiritual warfare between a righteous right wing and so-called “godless” liberals.
He declared that God was on the side of American conservatives and that there was “no separation of church and state.” And in a speech to Trump supporters in Georgia last year, he said that “the Democrat Party supports everything that God hates” and that “there is a spiritual battle happening all around us.”
Kirk was also known for his memes and college campus speaking tours meant to “own the libs.” Videos of his debates with liberal college students have racked up tens of millions of views.
Matthew Boedy, a professor of rhetoric and composition at the University of North Georgia, has written a forthcoming book about Christian nationalism that prominently features Kirk and his influence. The book, “The Seven Mountains Mandate,” comes out Sept. 30.
“Today is a tragedy,” Boedy said in an interview with The Times on Wednesday. “It is a red flag for our nation.”
Boedy said the shooting — following the two assassination attempts against Trump on the campaign trail last year — was a tragic reminder of “just how divisive we have become.”
In June, a shooter posing as a police officer fatally shot Minnesota state House Democratic leader Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their home in an incident that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called “a politically motivated assassination.”
Another Democratic lawmaker, state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, were also injured at their residence less than 10 miles away.
In April, a shooter set fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion, forcing Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family to flee during the Jewish holiday of Passover.
In July 2024, Trump himself survived a hail of bullets, one of which grazed his ear, at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. Two months later, a man with a rifle was arrested by Secret Service agents after he was spotted amid shrubs near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago golf resort.
Kirk’s presence at the Utah campus was preceded by petitions and protests. But, Boedy noted, that was typical with his appearances.
“Charlie Kirk is, I would say, the most influential person who doesn’t work in the White House,” he said.
Boedy said Kirk reached a vast array of demographics through his radio show and social media accounts and was “in conversation with President Trump a lot.”
Kirk had said his melding in recent years of faith and politics was influenced by Rob McCoy, the pastor of Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Newbury Park in Ventura County. Kirk called McCoy, who often spoke at his events, his personal pastor.
Boedy said McCoy turned Kirk toward Christian nationalism, specifically the Seven Mountains Mandate — the idea that Christians should try to influence the seven pillars of cultural influence: arts and religion, business, education, family, government, media and religion.
Boedy said Kirk “turned Turning Point USA into an arm of Christian nationalism. There’s a strategy called the Seven Mountains Mandate, and he has put his TPUSA money into each of those.”
Boedy said Kirk was a vocal 2nd Amendment supporter and that the shooting likely would further the desire among his conservative followers who tout the idea of having good guys with guns “to have more guns everywhere, which is sad.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency was closely monitoring reports of the shooting.
“Our thoughts are with Charlie, his loved ones, and everyone affected,” he said on X. “Agents will be on the scene quickly and the FBI stands in full support of the ongoing response and investigation.”
Meanwhile, 345 miles to the east, at least three students were in critical condition following a shooting at a high school in Colorado.
The shooting happened earlier in the afternoon at Evergreen High School in Jefferson County. A fourth person may have been hurt as well. Among those injured was the shooter, who was described by authorities only as a juvenile. No other details were provided on the shooting.
Times staff writer Ana Ceballos contributed to this report.
Manhunt under way for man accused of shooting dead two officers and wounding another in southeastern state of Victoria.
Police in Australia are searching for a gunman who shot dead two officers and wounded another at a rural property in the southeastern state of Victoria, authorities have said.
The shooting occurred shortly after 10:30am on Tuesday as 10 police officers were attending the property in Porepunkah, about 300km (186 miles) northeast of Melbourne, Victoria police said in a statement.
Police urged the public in and around Porepunkah to remain indoors until further notice, and asked people not to travel to the area.
“The exact circumstances surrounding the incident are still being determined and it remains an active and ongoing situation,” Victoria police said.
“It’s believed the offender has since left the property and at this time his whereabouts are unknown. A significant search is actively underway to locate the man.”
Local media, which named the suspect as Dezi Freeman, reported that the police officers had travelled to the property to execute a warrant relating to alleged historical sex offences.
Alex Caruana, president of the Australian Federal Police Association, expressed condolences to the families of the deceased officers.
“Policing is dangerous and unpredictable work, and what has happened in Porepunkah is a reminder of the risks officers face every day in keeping the community safe,” Caruana said in a statement.
Gun deaths are relatively rare in Australia, which introduced tough restrictions on firearms in response to the 1996 Port Arthur mass shooting, which killed 35 people and injured 23 others.
The last time an Australian police officer was shot dead in the line of duty was November 2023, when Brevet Sergeant Jason Doig was killed while responding to a call at a property in South Australia, according to the National Police Memorial.
Victims not immediately identified after deadly attack at popular store in the state capital, Austin.
A gunman has opened fire in the parking lot of a Target store in Texas, United States, killing three people, according to authorities.
The attack occurred on Monday in the state’s capital, Austin, with Chief of Police Lisa Davis describing the attacker as a man in his 30s with “a mental health history”.
After the shooting, the man fled the scene in a stolen car, which he later crashed. He then stole another car from a nearby dealership before he was captured.
Emergency responders found the three victims, who were not immediately identified, when they arrived at the scene. Two were pronounced dead immediately, with a third pronounced dead at a hospital.
“This is a very sad day for Austin. It’s a very sad day for us all, and my condolences go out to the families,” Davis said.
The attack occurred shortly before schools restart in the country, in what is commonly a popular time for shopping.
Police monitor the scene near a Target after a shooting in Austin, Texas [Stephen Spillman/AP Photo]
In a post on X, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson called the attack a “devastating situation”.
“My heart is with the victims and their families,” he said. “While this remains an active and ongoing investigation, what I’ll say is that this was a sickening, cowardly act of gun violence.”
The Target attack comes just over two weeks after an attack at a Walmart store in Michigan.
A man stabbed 11 people at the store in Traverse City on July 26, and has been charged with “terrorism” and multiple counts of attempted murder.
In late July, a 27-year-old man fatally shot five people in Midtown Manhattan, in the deadliest shooting in the city in more than two decades.
Gun violence has been a leading driver of crime in the US. According to the database Gun Violence Archives, there have been 9,143 gun-related deaths and 269 mass shootings so far in 2025.
Aug. 9 (UPI) — The suspected gunman in the attack that killed a police officer near the Emory University campus and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s headquarters was identified Saturday morning.
WXIA-TV posted video from outside the home of the suspected shooter on Friday night where there was crime scene tape.
GBI is the lead investigator, and has been working with the Atlanta, DeKalb County and Emory police, DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Emory, with an enrollment of 5,727, was on lockdown for a few hours, while the CDC had a shelter in place order at its Roybal Campus until the late evening. The school said Saturday there will be increased police presence throughout the weekend.
David Rose, a 33-year-old police officer for the DeKalb department, died while responding to the shooting. Rose, who joined the department in September and was a retired U.S. Marine, had two children with his wife, who is pregnant.
“This officer responded to the call as he did, as he was trained to do, and during that incident he received gunfire and he lost his life in this incident,” interim Police Chief Gregory Padrick said. “He was committed to serving the community. It’s a noble profession we all do. We answer the call to serve our community and he gave his life with a commitment to serve others.”
Rose was the only person shot during the attack, which started just before 5 p.m. at the Emory Point CVS drugstore on Clifton Road. White was found dead from a gunshot wound on the second floor. It wasn’t disclosed whether he was shot by law enforcement or whether it was self-inflicted.
The shooting occurred across the street from the CDC campus, where there were bullet holes in windows and shattered glass on the floor. Some rounds of ammunition also flew just above office cubicles.
CDC Director Susan Monerez told employees to work remotely while a “security assessment” is conducted at the campus.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said Friday the suspect was “known to have some interest in certain things that I can’t reiterate right now with any confidence until the investigation is fully conducted.”
CNN reported the shooter was upset about health problems blamed on the Covid-19 vaccine recommended by the CDC and approved by the Federal Drug Administration in 2020 with Emergency Use Authorization and full approval for certain ages in 2021 for Pfizer-BioNTech and in 2022 for Moderna.
Emory University is a private school in Atlanta. Photo by Emory News Center
Aug. 8 (UPI) — The suspected shooter on Emory University’s downtown Atlanta campus on Friday is dead and a DeKalb County officer responding to the incident was killed, authorities said.
The shooting occurred before 5 p.m. EDT at Emory Point CVS, which is part of a shopping center of restaurants, shops and apartments where some students live, CNN reported. No civilians were injured, police said.
Police believe the suspected shooter targeted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because he believes the Covid-19 vaccine made him sick, and it was approved by the agency, a law enforcement official told CNN.
The unnamed officer, married and father of three, died from his injuries, interim DeKalb County Police Department Chief Greg Padrick said.
“He was committed to serving the community. At this time we are asking for the community’s prayers,” Padrick said at a news conference. “It’s a noble profession we all do. We answer the call to serve our community and he gave his life to a commitment to serve others.”
“This evening there is a wife without a husband,” DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson said. “There are three children, one unborn, without a father.
“There is a mother and a father, as well as siblings, who also share in this traumatic loss.”
The Atlanta Police Department can’t confirm why the police officer was present in its jurisdiction.
“It’s not uncommon for patrol patterns to cross multiple jurisdictions that may share the space,” Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum told reporters. “Was he going to work? Was he coming home from work? We don’t know if he was on patrol.”
Schierbaum said multiple rounds struck four nearby Centers for Disease Control and Prevention buildings.
The police chief said 911 calls about an active shooting were received around 4:50 p.m. in front of the CDC campus.
Responding officers found the critically injured DeKalb County officer.
The suspect died on the second floor of the CVS of gunshot wounds, police said.
“We do not know at this time if it was an officer’s or if it was self-inflicted,” Schierbaum said
A shelter-in-place remained in effect late Friday at the CDC, which is a mile from the Emory campus.
“We at CDC are heartbroken by today’s attack on our Roybal Campus, which remains on lockdown as authorities investigate the shooting,” CDC Director Susan Monarez said in a statement.
She said the CDC is cooperating with law enforcement in the investigation.
At 5:31 p.m., Emory’s Office of Critical Events Preparedness and Response instructed people to shelter in place on the private college’s campus.
About one hour later, a DeKalb County official said the situation was contained and there was no active threat, NBC News reported. But county residents should remain indoors as a precaution during the investigation.
Police said there was a single shooter.
The father of the alleged shooter’s father called law enforcement before the shooting to report that he believed his son was suicidal, a law enforcement official told CNN.
A CDC employee told CNN a man approached the steps of a building at the agency’s campus, put a backpack down, pulled out a rifle, and shot at the building.
Chris Weaver told WXIA that he believed he heard the shots.
“I was stunned at first,” he said, adding he thought he was safe.
The FBI sent agents to assist local law enforcement. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation.
This was the second shooting in Georgia in the past week.
On Wednesday, an active-duty soldier opened fire at Fort Stewart, injuring five service members. The suspected shooter was taken into custody.
Fort Stewart, which is part of the Savannah metropolitan area, is 243 miles southeast from Emory.
Gov. Brian Kempposted on X: “Twice this week, deranged criminals have targeted innocent Georgians. Each time, brave first responders rushed toward the danger to subdue the shooter and save lives, reminding us of just how crucial they are.”
Emory is a liberal arts research university with enrollment of 5,727.
Investigators are looking into whether a Las Vegas man who went on a deadly shooting spree in Manhattan Monday was targeting the National Football League after it emerged that the gunman was a former Los Angeles high school football player with a documented mental health history.
New York Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that the shooter, identified by law enforcement officials as 27-year-old Shane Tamura, appeared to have a grievance with the N.F.L but ended up on the wrong floor.
“He seemed to have blamed the N.F.L.,” the mayor told the WPIX-TV news station. “The N.F.L. headquarters was located in the building, and he mistakenly went up the wrong elevator bank.”
Law enforcement officials have said that Tamura marched into a 44-story office tower on Park Avenue that is the headquarters of the N.F.L and investment firm Blackstone, at around 6:25 pm Monday carrying an M4 assault rifle in his right hand. He immediately opened fire in the lobby, shooting first an NYPD officer, then a woman who took cover behind a pillar and a security guard behind the security desk.
After spraying more gunfire across the lobby, the gunman got into an elevator and went to the 33rd floor, which houses the Rudin Management real estate firm. He then walked around the floor, firing more rounds and shooting and killing another person, before walking down a hallway and fatally shooting himself in the chest. Four people died in the attack along with Tamura.
“Mr. Tamura has a documented mental health history,” New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday night at a news conference, citing Las Vegas law enforcement. “His motives are still under investigation, and we are working to understand why he targeted this particular location.”
Tamura, who was a celebrated varsity high school player at Golden Valley High School in Santa Clarita and Granada Hills Charter School in the San Fernando Valley, had a suicide note in his back pocket alleging that he suffered from CTE, a brain disease linked to head trauma, CNN reported, citing a source with knowledge of the investigation.
In the short three-page note, he appeared to blame football for his problems, referencing former Pittsburgh Steelers player Terry Long, who died by suicide after drinking antifreeze in 2005, and expressing grievances with the N.F.L.
“Terry Long football gave me CTE and it caused me to drink a gallon of antifreeze,” the gunman allegedly wrote. “You can’t go against the NFL, they’ll squash you,” the note said, according to the source.
“Study my brain please,” the note added. “Tell Rick I’m sorry for everything,”
N.F.L. commissioner Roger Goodell reportedly said an NFL employee was seriously injured in the attack. A person with knowledge of the situation told The Times that most of the NFL employees had left by the time the shooter entered the building and that the building was cleared by police from the top down, floor by floor.
Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York on Tuesday called the shooting a “horrific act of violence,” noting that one of the victims was NYPD officer Didarul Islam, who had been in the force for three and a half years and left behind a wife who was eight months pregnant and two young sons. A Bangladeshi immigrant, Islam was off duty at the time of the shooting, working as a security officer in the skyscraper.
“My heart is with his loved ones, his NYPD family and every victim of this tragedy,” Hochul said in a statement.
Hochul also called on Congress to limit the sale of military-grade rifles. The state of New York passed some of the strongest gun laws in the nation, she noted, “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,” Hochul said. “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.”
Tamura played football at Golden Valley High School in the Canyon Country neighborhood of Santa Clarita for three years before transferring to Granada Hills Charter School for his senior year in 2015.
Dan Kelley, Golden Valley coach, said only that he remembered Tamura as “a good athlete.”
In his senior year at Granada Hills, the 5-foot-7, 140-pound player had 126 carries, 600 rushing yards and five touchdowns, according to MaxPreps. He also won several “player of the game” awards.
A 2015 video that circulated on social media Monday night showed Tamura as a high school football player celebrating a win for the Granada Hills Highlanders.
In a post-game interview after a 35-31 win over Kennedy High, Tamura was hailed as a “stand-out running back” by a reporter from the Los Angeles Daily News and asked how the team came through.
“We definitely had to stay disciplined,” Tamura said, noting the team was down 10-0 in the first quarter. “Our coach kept saying, ‘Don’t hold your heads down. Don’t hold your heads down.’ … We just had to stay disciplined and come together as a team.”
Tamura scored several touchdowns, the reporter noted, including a pivotal one in the fourth quarter with under four minutes to go.
Tamura graduated in 2016, MaxPreps said.
The initial investigation indicates that Tamura had traveled from Las Vegas to New York, driving a black BMW cross country through Colorado, Nebraska and New Jersey over the weekend.
Law enforcement said that officers searched the vehicle the gunman double parked on Park Avenue between 51st and 52nd streets and found a rifle case with rounds, a loaded revolver ammunition and magazines, a backpack and medication prescribed to Tamura. No explosives were inside.
Times staff writers Eric Sondheimer and Sam Farmer contributed to this report.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman, who was shot nine times by a gunman posing as a police officer who authorities say went on to kill another lawmaker, is out of the hospital and is now recovering in a transitional care unit, his family said.
“John has been moved to a rehab facility, but still has a long road to recovery ahead,” the family said in a statement Monday night.
The family released a photo showing a smiling Hoffman giving a thumbs-up while standing with a suitcase on rollers, ready to leave the hospital.
Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were awakened around 2 a.m. on June 14 by a man pounding on the door of their home in the Minneapolis suburb of Champlin who said he was a police officer. According to an FBI agent’s affidavit, security video showed the suspect, Vance Boelter, at the door wearing a black tactical vest and holding a flashlight. He was wearing a flesh-colored mask that covered his entire head.
Yvette Hoffman told investigators they opened the door, and when they spotted the mask, they realized that the man was not a police officer. He then said something like “this is a robbery.” The senator then lunged at the gunman and was shot nine times. Yvette Hoffman was hit eight times before she could shut the door. Their adult daughter, Hope, was there but was not injured and called 911.
Boelter is accused of going to the homes of two other lawmakers in a vehicle altered to resemble a squad car, without making contact with them, before going to the home of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in nearby Brooklyn Park. He allegedly killed both of them and wounded their dog so seriously that he had to be euthanized.
The chief federal prosecutor for Minnesota has called the lawmaker’s killing an assassination.
Yvette Hoffman was released from the hospital a few days after the attacks. Former President Biden visited the senator in the hospital when he was in town for the Hortmans’ funeral.
Boelter, who remains jailed without bail, is charged in federal and state court with murder and attempted murder. At a hearing Thursday, Boelter said he was “looking forward to the facts about the 14th coming out.”
Prosecutors have declined to speculate on a motive. Friends have described him as an evangelical Christian with politically conservative views.
It will be up to Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi to decide whether to seek the federal death penalty. Minnesota abolished its state death penalty in 1911.
Vance Boelter, a former state board appointee, was arrested Sunday after allegedly killing ex-House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and wounding Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, ending the largest manhunt in Minnesota’s history.
Police found a pipe bomb, bombing plans, and a farewell note at the home of the alleged Graz school shooter. Police say the ex-student who killed 9 teens and a teacher before killing himself. Austria held a nationwide moment of silence Wednesday.
