NEW YORK, United States – New York City homicide detectives on Tuesday sought clues about what drove a Las Vegas man to drive across the country, ram a police officer into a midtown Manhattan office tower and open fire with a combat-grade rifle, killing four people, including a police officer.
Gunman Shane Tamura, 27, ended the carnage shortly after it began Monday evening by shooting himself in the chest on the 33rd floor of the Park Avenue skyscraper, which houses the NFL headquarters and the offices of several major financial companies.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters Monday evening that the gunman appeared to have acted alone, though his motives remained a mystery.
Tish said Tamura had a documented history of mental illness and appeared to have driven to New York from Las Vegas over a three-day period.
Teich said Tamura carried out his armed attack with an M4 carbine, an assault rifle widely used in the US military.
Police later found a loaded handgun from a black BMW Tamura had left parked outside the office tower, along with a backpack and prescription medication, she said.
Authorities have not offered any explanation for why Tamura chose the building at 345 Park Avenue, which has tenants that include the NFL, private equity giant Blackstone, accounting firm KPMG, and real estate firm Roden Management.
Among the four victims killed was Didar Islam, a 36-year-old New York City police officer who immigrated to the United States from Bangladesh. Mayor Eric Adams described the officer, who had been a police officer for about three and a half years, as a “true hero.”
Authorities provided few details about the other three victims—two men and a woman. The mayor said a third man was critically injured in the shooting and is fighting for his life in a nearby hospital.
According to a summary of the shooting events explained by Tisch at a late-night press conference, Tamura entered the lobby of the skyscraper, turned to his right, and immediately opened fire on the NYPD officer assigned to the building’s security detail.
The suspect then shot a woman and two men as he sprayed bullets into the hotel lobby, but for some mysterious reason allowed another woman to pass unharmed before taking the elevator to the offices of Rodin Management on the 33rd floor. There, he shot his final victim before killing himself, according to Tisch.
A widely circulated photo of the shooter, which CNN said was released by police, showed him entering the building carrying a rifle. CNN, citing officials, reported that initial investigations into the suspect’s background did not reveal any significant criminal history.
Another widely circulated photo showed Tamura’s Las Vegas police permit, which allows him to legally carry a concealed firearm.
