Investigators focus on whether New York shooter was targeting NFL offices

The scene of a shooting in Midtown Manhattan is investigated in New York, July 29, 2025. (Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times)

By Francesca Regalado, Ed Shanahan, Chelsia Rose Marcus, Maria Cramer and Matthew Haag

Investigators on Tuesday were focusing on whether a shooter had been targeting the headquarters of the National Football League when he burst into an office tower in midtown Manhattan and killed four people, including a police officer, in a rare episode of deadly mass violence in the city.

Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday morning that authorities “have reason to believe that he was focused on the NFL,” which has offices at the tower, 345 Park Ave. Adams said a note found on the shooter mentioned the league as well as claims that the man had suffered from the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, from playing football. It asks that his brain be examined for signs of CTE.

An employee of the NFL was “seriously injured” in the shooting Monday evening and was in stable condition, according to a statement from Roger Goodell, the league’s commissioner.

Adams said investigators believe the shooter entered the wrong elevator bank at 345 Park Ave. that did not have access to the NFL’s offices, so the man instead traveled to offices of Rudin Management, which owns the tower. The man was later found dead there, on the 33rd floor.

The remains of slain New York City police officer Didarul Islam, 36, were brought to his family in the Bronx early Tuesday morning. Islam, who was working off duty as a security guard, was the first person shot by the gunman when he entered the lobby of the building at 6:28 p.m., according to Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

A woman killed in the shooting was identified Tuesday as Wesley LePatner, an executive at the investment firm Blackstone, which also has offices in the tower. Authorities have not identified the other victims.

Tisch identified the shooter as Shane Devon Tamura, 27, of Las Vegas. In recent days, he drove from Nevada to Manhattan, where he abandoned his car moments before entering the building, Tisch said.

After killing Islam, Tamura shot a security guard and two other people in the lobby. He allowed a woman to go unharmed as she exited an elevator, before he rode it to the 33rd floor, where he killed one more person and fatally shot himself in the chest.

Here’s what else to know:

— Slain officer: Islam, who immigrated from Bangladesh, and his wife have two children and were expecting their third, Tisch said. He had been with the NYPD for 3 1/2 years and was working off duty as a security guard at the building, Tisch said.

— Office tower: The tower occupies a whole block and has its own ZIP code. Rudin is one of the largest real estate firms in the city, and the Rudin family is heavily involved in New York City’s political life. Workers who left the building shortly before the shooter entered Monday evening heard gunshots and screams as people fled in the middle of rush hour. Others were trapped in their offices for at least two hours.

— The shooter’s history: Tamura drove from Nevada to New York, crossing New Jersey after 4 p.m. Monday and arriving in Manhattan sometime later. Tamara arrived in a BMW registered in his name, police said, and a loaded revolver, ammunition and medication prescribed to him were found in the vehicle he left on Park Avenue outside the skyscraper. Law enforcement in Las Vegas had documented Tamura’s mental health history, Tisch said. He had been charged with criminal trespass and received traffic citations in Nevada, records show.