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The gunman who killed four people in a high-rise corporate office building in New York City on Monday before taking his own life appeared to target the National Football League headquarters inside the building, the city’s mayor said Tuesday.
New York police said the shooter — identified by authorities as 27-year-old Shane Devon Tamura of Nevada — entered midtown Manhattan’s 345 Park Avenue on Monday evening armed with an M4 rifle and opened fire in the lobby. He then went to the 33rd floor of the building and opened fire again before fatally shooting himself, police said.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in various interviews on Tuesday that investigators believe the Temura may have intended to target NFL offices inside the building but used the wrong elevator bank.
“There are two different elevator banks,” Adams told “Good Day New York” on Fox 5 on Tuesday morning. “Some banks don’t go to every floor. He appeared to have gone to the wrong bank, and he ended up on the floor of Rudin Management.”
Adams said investigators found a note on Temura referring to “CTE,” the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy that has been linked to contact sports, including football. The gunman wondered in his note whether CTE was a possible cause of his mental illness, two officials familiar with the matter told NBC News.
A senior official familiar with the investigation told NBC News that the three-page suicide note found in Temura’s wallet stated in part, “Please study brain for CTE. I’m sorry.”
Temura played football in high school, but did not play in college or for the NFL, Adams told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday.
The gunman’s rampage killed a New York City police officer and three civilians, including Wesley LePatner, an executive at the investment firm Blackstone, which has offices inside the building.
An NFL employee was also seriously injured in the attack, league commissioner Roger Goodell said. The employee is “currently in the hospital and in stable condition,” Goodell said in a statement Tuesday morning. He added, “We believe that all of our employees are otherwise safe and accounted for, and the building has nearly been cleared.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.