Who is Shane Tamura? NYC shooting suspect, 27, who got an assault rifle despite ‘documented mental health history’

Suspected gunman Shane Tamura is accused of opening fire in a Midtown Manhattan office building in New York City on Monday evening, killing four people, before turning the gun on himself.

Among the victims are a New York Police Department officer, a real estate executive and mother, and an employee of the building management firm. Three of the victims were shot in the lobby, the fourth on the 33rd floor.

“I want to extend my profound sympathies to all of the victims and their families, and to the brave NYPD cops who today lost a brother,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference on Monday evening.

“There are still many questions that we have to answer, and we will answer them. For now, our city is in mourning for the innocent lives lost. May their memories be a blessing.”

Here are the key details we know so far about the mass shooting.

What happened?

At 6:28 p.m., police began getting calls from the skyscraper at 345 Park Avenue, home to the offices of major corporations including the NFL, KPMG, and Blackstone, about an active shooter.

Security cameras captured Tamura, 27, double-parking a black BMW on the street outside the office tower and entering the building holding what was later determined to be an M4 assault rifle, Tisch said.

The 27-year-old, who had a Las Vegas address, proceeded to “immediately open fire” on the ground floor of the building, Tisch said at the press conference, striking NYPD officer Didarul Islam, 36, who later died of his injuries.

Police said Tamura continued firing, shooting at a security guard taking cover behind a desk, another man, and a woman. Chillingly, he inexplicably allowed another woman to pass him unharmed before he took the elevator to the 33rd-floor offices of Rudin Management.

Inside the office, police say Tamura continued firing, striking and killing another woman, before then shooting himself in the chest.

Tamura is believed to have acted alone, and there is no longer a threat to the public, according to police.

Speaking on Tuesday morning, New York Mayor Eric Adams said Tamura was targeting the NFL’s offices but took the wrong elevator.

“He seemed to have blamed the NFL,” the mayor said. “The NFL headquarters was located in the building, and he mistakenly went up the wrong elevator bank.”

Who is the gunman?

Police believe Tamura, a 27-year-old man from Las Vegas, Nevada, acted alone in the shooting.

The suspect was a native of Hawaii and was raised in Santa Clarita, California, where he was a standout running back at Granada Hills Charter High School.

In addition to holding a concealed carry license for a handgun, he also had an expired private investigator’s license.

“He has a documented mental health history,” Tisch said Monday. “His motives are still under investigation. We are working to understand why he targeted this particular location.”

Tamura did not have a significant criminal record.

In a suicide note discovered by authorities, Tamura claimed that he was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease that has been linked to head trauma regularly endured by football players.

“Terry Long football gave me CTE and it caused me to drink a gallon of antifreeze. Study my brain please I’m sorry Rick I’m sorry for everything… You can’t go against the NFL, they’ll squash you,” the note reportedly read in parts.

In 2005, former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Terry Long took his own life after drinking a gallon of antifreeze. He was later diagnosed to be suffering from CTE.

Mayor Adams said in an interview with CBS Mornings: “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.”

Tamura appears to have driven across the country through Colorado, Nebraska, and Iowa in the days before the shooting, police said.

His car was then spotted in Columbia, New Jersey, just after 4 p.m. around two hours before the shooting took place.

Tamura wore dark sunglasses, a dark-colored jacket and was carrying a large rifle as he approached the office tower, according to surveillance footage images.

The FBI stated Friday during a press conference that its systems did not contain any additional prior information about the 27-year-old.

Who are the victims and the injured?

Tamura is accused of shooting dead at least four people, one of whom was the NYPD officer Didarul Islam.

Islam served in the NYPD’s 47th Precinct in the Bronx and had been with the force for three-and-a-half years, officials said.

The Bangladeshi immigrant was a father of two young boys, and his wife is eight months pregnant with the couple’s third child.

The NYPD said on X late Monday: “Police Officer Didarul Islam represented the very best of our department. He was protecting New Yorkers from danger when his life was tragically cut short today. We join in prayer during this time of incomprehensible pain. We will forever honor his legacy.”

“He loved this city and everyone we spoke with stated he was a person of faith and a person that believed in God and believed in living out the life of a godly person,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at the press conference on Friday. “He embodies what this city is all about. He is a true blue hero not only in the uniform he wore, but in his spirit and energy of loving this city.”

Investment giant Blackstone said Tuesday that a senior executive, Wesley LePatner, was among the people killed and was also in the lobby. She was married with children.

“We are heartbroken to share that our colleague, Wesley LePatner, was among those who lost their lives in the tragic incident at 345 Park Avenue. Words cannot express the devastation we feel,” the company said in a statement.

“Wesley was a beloved member of the Blackstone family and will be sorely missed. She was brilliant, passionate, warm, generous, and deeply respected within our firm and beyond. She embodied the best of Blackstone. Our prayers are with her husband, children and family.”

LePatner was a senior managing director at the firm, serving as Global Head of Core+ Real Estate and Chief Executive Officer of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT), the firm further noted.

She joined Blackstone in 2014, having previously worked at Goldman Sachs. LePatner graduated summa cum laude from Yale, was married in 2006, as noted in a wedding announcement in The New York Times.

Security Guard Aland Etienne was also killed in the lobby of the building. His identity was confirmed by Manny Pastreich, the president of the union 32BJ that represents security and janitorial personnel in the city.

Police said he was shot while staffing the security desk. Pastreich said Etienne “took his job duties extremely seriously,” and called him “a New York hero,” adding, “We will remember him as such.”

After the gunman seemingly mistakenly took the elevator to the 33rd floor, he fatally shot Rudin Management associate and Cornell graduate Julie Hyman. Tamura then turned the gun on himself.

Another man was seriously wounded in the shooting and is “fighting for his life” in a nearby hospital, the mayor said.

An NFL employee was also injured in the shooting and is in stable condition at a hospital, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing 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.

Four others were treated for “minor” injuries, Commissioner Tisch said.

What happens next in the investigation?

The NYPD is leading the shooting investigation. Federal agencies, including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, are assisting with the case.

Police say they found a rifle case, rounds of ammunition, a revolver, and medication bearing Tamura’s name inside the BMW.

After the search and evacuation of 345 Park Avenue, police said they were conducting a secondary sweep of the building.

What have witnesses said?

A witness to the shooting, Jessica Chen, told ABC News she was on the second floor with about 150 people when they heard “multiple shots go off in quick succession from the first floor.”

She ran into a conference room with others, and they barricaded the door.

“A lot of us were young, a lot of us went through training in elementary school of what to do in an active shooter situation. We were all, unfortunately, prepared,” Chen said.

Chen said they were in constant communication with police during the shooting.

While sheltering inside the conference room, Chen texted her parents to let them know she loved them.

“We were honestly really, really scared,” Chen said. “All of us were frozen. All of us were shocked.”

What has been the reaction from officials?

In addition to Mayor Adams and Police Commissioner Tisch, New York lawmakers have condemned gun violence in the U.S. and the easy access to weapons.

Rep. Jerry Nadler, whose district includes Midtown Manhattan, tweeted: “Gun violence in this country is an epidemic. The tragic loss of a brave police officer and innocent civilians is far too common.”

The Democrat lawmaker continued: “From Columbine to Sandy Hook, from the Tree of Life synagogue to the Pulse nightclub, from Charleston to today’s shooting in Midtown Manhattan, we must put an end to the easy access to weapons of war that continue to take innocent lives.”

Democratic nominee for mayor Zohran Mamdani, currently celebrating his wedding in Uganda, said on X: “I’m heartbroken to learn of the horrific shooting in midtown and I am holding the victims, their families, and the NYPD officer in critical condition in my thoughts.”

Mamdani added: “Grateful for all of our first responders on the ground.”

President Donald Trump, a New York native, posted on Truth Social: “I have been briefed on the tragic shooting that took place in Manhattan, a place that I know and love. I trust our Law Enforcement Agencies to get to the bottom of why this crazed lunatic committed such a senseless act of violence.”

He added: “My heart is with the families of the four people who were killed, including the NYPD Officer, who made the ultimate sacrifice. God Bless the New York Police Department, and God Bless New York!”