Firm’s highest-ranking woman brutally killed in New York shooting
A top executive at a $325 billion real estate business was among those killed in a horrifying massacre.
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The gunman who killed four people in a New York skyscraper before turning the gun on himself went to the wrong office, the city’s mayor has revealed.
All four of the victims have now been identified including a New York police officer and an executive of an investment firm. At least five other people are being treated for injuries.
US President Donald Trump has weighed in on the shooting, slamming the killer as a “crazed lunatic” and saying that his “heart is with the families” of the victims.
Shane Devon Tamura, 27, walked into the office block on 52nd Street and Park Avenue, close to the famous Grand Central station, at around 6.30pm on Monday (8.30am Tuesday AEST).
A security guard at a Las Vegas casino said he was carrying a large rifle by his side when he entered the corporate tower.
The gunman killed three people in the building’s lobby and another on the 33rd floor before turning the gun on himself.
That floor held the offices of Rudin Management.
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Killer went to ‘wrong floor’
However, on Tuesday, New York mayor Eric Adams said there was “reason to believe” Tamura likely intended to go to the offices of the National Football League which was also housed in the block.
“He appeared to have gone to the wrong floor,” Mr Adams told Fox 5’s Good Day New York.
“There are two different elevator banks.
“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.”
At this point, no one from the NFL has died.
In a tragic outcome, the mayor said there were security measures in place including a button to stop the lift from moving.
“But … the security guard who was capable of operating it could not do so because he was killed at the security desk.”
Gunman’s brain to be examined, NFL the likely target
A note left by the murderer cited the NFL and stated that he blamed playing American football for his apparent struggle with the neurodegenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), law enforcement sources said.
Tamura also asked that his brain be studied in the note, according to the sources.
The condition can only be diagnosed definitively after death. It can induce symptoms including impulsive behaviour and suicidal thoughts.
New York City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has since confirmed Tamura’s brain will be examined as part of an investigation into his cause of death.
Tamura did played football at Granada Hills Charter and Golden Valley high schools in Los Angeles County. He never played for the NFL, however.
The note, where he raged against the NFL, referenced former football star Terry Long, who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He died due to suicide and an autopsy revealed he had CTE.
Police have said the man had “a documented mental health history”.
How rampage unfolded
Tamura first killed police officer Didarul Islam in the building’s lobby, New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said describing CCTV footage.
“He then shoots a woman who took cover behind a pillar and proceeds through the lobby spraying gunfire.
“He makes his way to an elevator bank where he shoots a security guard who was taking cover behind the security desk,” said Commissioner Tisch.
“He calls the elevator to the lobby. A female exits and he allows he allows her to walk past him unharmed.”
Tamura then made his way to the 33rd floor, home to Rudin Management offices, where “begins to walk the floor, firing as he travelled”.
“One person was struck and killed,” Commissioner Tisch said.
He then went down a hallway and shot himself dead.
An arresting image from the investment firm Blackstone shows furniture being barricaded against its entrance.
Tamura used an AR-15-style assault rifle, part of which he purchased from an associate, during the attack, Commissioner Tisch said.
“The weapon used, an AR-15-style assault rifle, was assembled by Mr. Tamura using a lower receiver purchased by an associate,” she said.
“We have located that associate and others, and will be questioning him about that purchase.”
AR-15s have an upper receiver and a lower receiver – the latter of which contains the
trigger, pistol grip and magazines.
Gunman once a ‘gifted’ athlete
Tamura was a “completely different” person nine years ago, his former teammate told the New York Post.
“I don’t think any one of us, none of my teammates, sensed anything like this from Shane,” the 28-year-old man, who asked not to be identified, told the publication.
“He was very devoted to football, he was a very good player, but off the field he was very like, nice, positive. He never really had conflict with anyone.”
Tamura’s former coach at Granada Hills Charter described him as “one of the best running backs that I coached”.
“He was very quiet. He led by his actions more than his word. He was athletically gifted,” Walter Roby, 60, said.
Mr Roby said he was “heartbroken” when he heard of the shooting.
“It’s just shocking. It took me a while to come to grips with it.”
One of firm’s highest-ranking women and police officer among victims
Blackstone said it was “heartbroken” to confirm Wesley LePatner, a top executive in its $US325 billion real estate business, died in the rampage.
The 43-year-old, who joined the company in 2014, was Blackstone’s global head of Core+ real estate and the Chief Executive Officer of the Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT).
Ms LePatner, who had a partner and two children, took cover behind a pillar when the gunman open fired in the building’s lobby. She was on her way to meet a colleague for a drink at the time, a person familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.
“Words cannot express the devastation we feel. Wesley was a beloved member of the Blackstone family and will be sorely missed,” Blackstone told The New York Post in a statement.
“She was brilliant, passionate, warm, generous, and deeply respected within our firm and beyond.
“Our prayers are with her husband, children and family.”
Blackstone President Jonathan Gray told The Wall Street Journal he had seen Ms LePatner at the weekly meeting of the real-estate investment committee earlier on Monday.
“This is a person who was the source of so much good and light in the world, who herself was so accomplished, and yet was the highest integrity, most supportive colleague and friend,” he said.
“It’s so rare to have those things in combination.”
Ms LePatner studied at the Ivy League Yale University and had previously worked at bank Goldman Sachs. She was on the board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Police officer Didarul Islam, who was also killed, lived in the Bronx borough of New York and had been with the NYPD for three and a half years.
Born in Bangladesh he has two children and his pregnant wife is due to give birth to their third child next month.
“He was doing what he does best and all members of the police department carry out,” Mayor Eric Adams said.
“He was saving lives. He was protecting New Yorkers.”
He “loved this city and everyone we spoke with stated he was a person of faith and a person that believed in God and believed in living out the life of a godly person.
“He embodies what this city is all about. He’s a true blue New Yorker, not only in a uniform he wore.”
According to the New York Post, Ms Islam’s father suffered a stroke when he learned of his son’s death.
“His father went last night to see him,” his cousin, Muhammad Mainul Islam, told the publication. “When he heard the message, he had a stroke, feeling bad. So he had a stroke so the hospital did not release him.”
The cousin said Mr Islam’s was supposed to take his eight-months pregnant wife to a hospital appointment on Tuesday morning.
“His wife had the doctor’s appointment. I heard one police officer from the precinct, she took [her] to the hospital,” he said.
Security officer Aland Etienne, 46, was also killed in the shooting, his brother confirmed.
“He was more than a brother – he was a father, a son, and a light in our lives,” his brother, Gathmand Etienne wrote on social media.
“Our hearts are shattered, and we’re asking for your prayers and strength as we navigate this painful time.”
Union President Manny Pastreich remembered Mr Etienne as a “dedicated security officer who took his job duties extremely seriously”.
This tragedy speaks to the sacrifice of security officers who risk their lives every day to keep New Yorkers and our buildings safe,” the Union President said in a statement.
Rudin Management employee Julia Hyman has been identified as the fourth victim of the shooting.
“Everyone at our company are devastated by yesterday’s senseless tragedy,” her family said in a statement, as per ABC News.
“We grieve with the families and loved ones of those lost, and we pray for the full recovery of those injured.”
Ms Hyman studied hotel and restaurant administration at Cornell University and graduated in 2020.
Trump: Tragic shooting by ‘crazed lunatic’
Posting on social media during his trip to the UK, President Trump said it was a “tragic shooting” in Manhattan, “a place that I know and love”.
“I trust our Law Enforcement Agencies to get to the bottom of why this crazed lunatic committed such a senseless act of violence.
“My heart is with the families of the four people who were killed, including the NYPD Officer, who made the ultimate sacrifice. God Bless the New York Police Department, and God Bless New York!”
Tamura was born in Hawaii but later moved to California.
He was a standout running back at a Los Angeles high school, according to an old post-game interview he did with a local news outlet after a victory with the Granada Hills football team, based in the city’s San Fernando Valley.
“We were down 10-0, stay disciplined came together as a team,” he says in the footage posted online. “Couple of touchdowns”.
Tamura eventually moved to Las Vegas, where he obtained a concealed carry license for a handgun and a now-expired private investigator license, CNN reported.
Originally published as Firm’s highest-ranking woman brutally killed in New York shooting
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