By Jennifer Peltz, Cedar Attanasio, Dave Collins and John SeewerThe Related Press
NEW YORK (AP) — A gunman who killed 4 individuals inside a Manhattan workplace tower blamed his psychological well being issues on the Nationwide Soccer League and meant to focus on the league’s headquarters upstairs however took the flawed elevator, officers mentioned .July 29.
Investigators mentioned Shane Tamura, a Las Vegas on line casino employee, was carrying a handwritten notice in his pockets that claimed he suffered from persistent traumatic encephalopathy, identified at CTE, and accused the league of hiding the hazards of mind accidents linked to contact sports activities.
Tamura, 27, shot a number of individuals within the skyscraper’s foyer and one other in a Thirty third-floor workplace on July 28 earlier than he killed himself, authorities mentioned. Among the many victims had been an off-duty New York Metropolis police officer and a safety guard.
The attacker’s grievances with the NFL emerged as police started piecing collectively the small print of his life and the cross-country street journey that introduced him to Manhattan. It’s unclear if Tamura confirmed signs of CTE, which may solely be recognized by inspecting the mind after an individual dies.
Tamura, who performed highschool soccer in California a decade in the past however by no means performed within the NFL, had a historical past of psychological sickness, police mentioned. Within the three-page notice discovered on his physique, he accused the NFL of concealing the hazards to gamers’ brains for revenue. The degenerative mind illness has been linked to concussions and different repeated head trauma frequent involved sports activities comparable to soccer
Within the notice, Tamura repeatedly mentioned he was sorry and requested that his mind be studied for CTE. He talked about a PBS Frontline documentary concerning the illness and referenced former NFL participant Terry Lengthy, who was recognized with CTE, and the way wherein Lengthy killed himself in 2005.
The NFL lengthy denied the hyperlink between soccer and CTE, nevertheless it acknowledged the connection in 2016 testimony earlier than Congress and has paid greater than $1.4 billion to retired gamers to settle concussion-related claims.
The taking pictures shakes Manhattan
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who works out of the workplaces, known as the taking pictures “an unspeakable act of violence in our constructing,” saying he was deeply grateful to the legislation enforcement officers who responded and to the one who gave his life to guard others.
Goodell mentioned in a memo to employees {that a} league worker was critically injured within the assault and was hospitalized in steady situation.
The taking pictures occurred alongside Park Avenue, one the nation’s most acknowledged streets, and simply blocks from Grand Central Terminal and Rockefeller Middle. It’s additionally lower than a 15-minute stroll from the place UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed final December by a person who prosecutors say was indignant over company greed.
The assault drew a response from the White Home, with President Donald Trump posting on social media, “My coronary heart is with the households of the 4 individuals who had been killed, together with the NYPD Officer, who made the last word sacrifice.”
Video reveals the gunman stroll into the constructing
Tamura, who labored safety on the Horseshoe Las Vegas however failed to point out as much as his shift July 27, drove throughout the nation over the previous few days and into New York Metropolis simply earlier than the assault, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch mentioned.
Detectives plan to query a person who equipped elements for the AR-15-style rifle Tamura used July 28, together with the weapon’s decrease receiver, she mentioned throughout a information convention.
Surveillance video confirmed Tamura getting out of a BMW early on the night of July 28 and strolling throughout a plaza in a button-down shirt and jacket with the rifle at his facet earlier than he entered the constructing, which additionally has workplaces for the funding agency Blackstone and different firms. It was closed July 29 besides to investigators.
As soon as inside, he sprayed the foyer with gunfire, killing Didarul Islam, the off-duty police officer who was working a company safety element, and hitting a lady who tried to take cowl, Tisch mentioned. He then made his approach to the elevator financial institution, taking pictures a guard at a safety desk and one other man within the foyer, she mentioned.
“He appeared to have first walked previous the officer after which he turned to his proper, and noticed him and discharged a number of rounds,” Adams mentioned in a TV interview.
Tamura took an elevator to the Thirty third-floor workplaces of the corporate that owns the constructing, Rudin Administration, and shot and killed somebody there earlier than fatally taking pictures himself, the commissioner mentioned.
He shot himself within the chest, in response to Adams.
Blackstone confirmed that one among its workers, actual property government Wesley LePatner, was amongst these killed. Safety officer Aland Etienne additionally died, in response to a labor union.
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This story was up to date to right that Tamura performed highschool soccer a couple of decade in the past, not almost twenty years in the past.
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Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut, and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio. Related Press reporters Mike Balsamo, Philip Marcelo and Julie Walker in New York; Rob Maaddi and Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia, Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey; and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.
