A witness has described the terrifying moment a wounded victim fled a Manhattan office tower and cried for help after a gunman opened fire inside the building, killing four people, including an NYPD police officer, before turning the weapon on himself.
The shooting occurred on Monday evening at a Midtown skyscraper that houses major firms including Blackstone and the NFL. Authorities identified the shooter as 27-year-old Shane Tamura, who drove from Las Vegas and entered the building around 6PM, armed with an M4-style rifle.
As Tamura entered the lobby, he immediately shot and killed NYPD officer Didarul Islam, 36, who was working a second job as a security guard and expecting his third child. He then opened fire on multiple people near the elevator bay before riding to the 33rd floor, where he fatally shot a tenant before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Eyewitness Nekeisha Lewis was dining near the plaza outside when she heard a series of shots and saw a glass wall shatter. “I realized, ‘Oh my God, this is a shootout,’” she told NBC News. “It felt like a war zone.”
Moments later, Lewis said she saw a man run out of the building yelling: “Help, help, I’ve been shot!” She and her partner helped remove his backpack before fleeing to safety. “It’s the scariest situation I’ve ever been in,” she said. “I’ve cried three times since.”
Among the victims were Wesley LePatner, a senior executive at Blackstone and mother of two; Julia Hyman, 27, a property manager with Rudin; and Aland Etienne, a security guard praised by union leaders as a “New York hero.”
One NFL employee, Craig Clementi, was reportedly struck by a ricocheting bullet while warning colleagues to evacuate. Despite his injury, Clementi stayed on the phone while being loaded into an ambulance to ensure others got to safety, according to a league source.
A handwritten suicide note found on Tamura suggested he targeted the NFL, which is headquartered in the building. In the letter, he claimed to suffer from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain condition linked to football-related head trauma. He blamed the league for concealing the risks and referenced deceased NFL player Terry Long, writing: “Terry Long football gave me CTE and it caused me to drink a gallon of antifreeze.”
Police confirmed Tamura had a documented history of mental health issues. Investigators continue to examine the motive, including why he spared a woman he encountered in the elevator.