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By Jessie Yeung, CNN
(CNN) — Investigators are combing through evidence in the wake of New York City’s deadliest mass shooting since 2000, trying to figure how a gunman came to unleash an assault-style rifle in Midtown, fatally shooting four people – including a police officer – and injuring one before killing himself.
The shooting at 345 Park Avenue, a glossy skyscraper near 52nd Street and blocks from busy tourist sites like Rockefeller Center and the Museum of Modern Art, erupted Monday as workers filed out of offices during the busy evening commute. The building houses global firms, including investor Blackstone and the National Football League, with which the gunman – a competitive football player in his youth – had grievances, a law enforcement source said.
It is among at least 254 mass shootings in the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Here’s what we know:
How the attack unfolded
Shortly before 6:30 p.m., surveillance cameras captured Shane Devon Tamura, 27, of Las Vegas, leaving his car near the Park Avenue building and entering with an M4 assault-style rifle in hand, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a news conference Monday night.
He entered the lobby and began “spraying it with gunfire,” she continued, hitting a police officer, a security guard and another man and woman.
Tamura used “an AR-15–style assault rifle,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday, noting her state has “banned assault weapons.”
People nearby heard windows shatter and a loud noise, the Associated Press reported.
“It felt like it was a quick two shots and then it was rapid fire,” Nekeisha Lewis, who was getting dinner with friends, told the AP. She saw a man run from the building saying, “Help, help. I’m shot.”
After firing in the lobby, the gunman went to the elevator, where a woman ran out and passed by unharmed, Tisch said.
He took the elevator to the 33rd floor, where the woman had been heading, according to a law enforcement official. It’s where the building’s owner, real estate company Rudin Management, has offices.
“From our preliminary investigation, he took the wrong elevator bank up to the NFL headquarters,” Mayor Eric Adams told “CBS Mornings.” The NFL’s offices are on the fifth floor of the Park Avenue building.
“Instead, (the elevator) took him to Rudin Management,” the mayor said, “and that is where he carried out additional shootings and took the lives of additional employees.”
On the 33rd floor, Tamura killed one person before shooting himself in the chest and dying, Tisch said.
Detectives found more ammunition in Tamura’s vehicle, the mayor said: “We had a large number of bullets that were found in the car, but at this time, the investigation has not concluded that he was going to take more actions.”
The New York Police Department is sending investigators to Las Vegas as they search for a motive in the shooting, Adams said.
The gunman
Tamura drove across the country in the days before the attack and got to New York on Monday afternoon, police said.
He had a “documented mental health history,” Tisch said.
He also had a suicide note in his pocket alleging he suffered from CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disease linked to head trauma, a source with knowledge of the investigation said. Tamura asked that his brain be studied and wrote: “You can’t go against the NFL, they’ll squash you,” the source said, adding the short note was scribbled over three pages investigators found after the shooting.
CTE is commonly associated with football players, and studies have shown repetitive hits to the head can result in the disease. Tamura had once played football competitively, sources told CNN.
Police are investigating Tamura’s motives, they said, and an FBI initial search of internal systems did not turn up information about gunman, the agency said. The city medical examiner will decide whether to assess the shooter’s remains for a chronic brain condition, Adams told CNN.
Tamura was a surveillance department employee at the Horseshoe Las Vegas hotel and casino, a spokesperson confirmed in a statement.
Former friends and classmates expressed shock at the news of the shooting.
“When I knew him, he was a great teammate. He was a great guy in general. He didn’t cause any problems, actually at all, in the locker room or on the field. He was just a guy that really enjoyed the sport, not problematic at all,” said a former high school friend, according to CNN affiliate KABC.
Another childhood friend, who asked not to be identified, remembered Tamura as a nice guy and a good athlete.
Neither had spoken to Tamura in many years.
The victims
Killed in the attack was NYPD officer Didarul Islam, a 36-year-old immigrant from Bangladesh who had worked in the police force for 3 1/2 years. He had two young sons, and his wife is pregnant with their third child, police said.
Islam had been off-duty at the time but was working security in the building when Tamura stormed the lobby and shot him. “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,” said Adams, hailing Islam as a hero.
A worker for building owner Rudin was also killed, the company said Monday in a statement without naming them: “Our thoughts and prayers are with those injured and lost last night, including our cherished Rudin colleague, a brave New York City police officer, a beloved lobby security guard and an employee at a tenant firm.”
The security guard, his union says, was Aland Etienne, “a dedicated security officer who took his job duties extremely seriously.”
“This tragedy speaks to the sacrifice of security officers who risk their lives every day to keep New Yorkers and our buildings safe,” 32BJ SEIU President Manny Pastreich said in a statement.
Blackstone employee Wesley LePatner was killed as well, the company confirmed Tuesday. She “embodied the best of Blackstone” and leaves behind a husband and children, the firm said in a statement.
“She was brilliant, passionate, warm, generous, and deeply respected within our firm and beyond,” Blackstone said.
The fifth person shot, an NFL employee, was “seriously injured” and in stable condition at a hospital overnight into Tuesday, a staff memo from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stated.
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CNN’s Mark Morales, John Miller, Maureen Chowdhury, Michelle Watson, Rebekah Riess, Zoe Sottile, Danya Gainor, Josh Campbell, David Williams and Karina Tsui contributed to this report.
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