Manhattan mass shooting: 4 dead after gunman storms Park Avenue skyscraper
A 27-year-old man has been identified as the gunman behind the horrific Manhattan shooting, as officials revealed how the rampage unfolded. Warning: Graphic
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A 36-year-old police officer and three other people were shot and killed, and one other injured, by a crazed gunman who stormed a Manhattan skyscraper — before turning the gun on himself, police said.
The 27-year-old, identified by sources as Shane Tamura, barged into the 44-storey building armed with a rifle and opened fire around 6.30pm during the evening rush, cops and law enforcement sources told The Post.
Tamura, who authorities said had a “mental health history,” unleashed his rampage after setting foot in the lobby, first gunning down officer Didarul Islam, a father of two young boys, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference.
Officer Islam’s wife is pregnant with their third child.
Police Commissioner Tisch revealed how the horrific attack unfolded after Tamura double parked his black BMW on Park Avenue carrying a rifle.
“Security camera footage shows the shooter enter the lobby, turn right and immediately open fire on an NYPD officer,” she said.
“He then shoots a woman who took cover behind a pillar and proceeds through the lobby, spraying it with gunfire.
“He makes his way to the elevator bank, where he shoots a security guard who is taking cover behind the security desk.
Another man was shot in the lobby and has given a statement from hospital.
“The shooter then calls the elevator, which opens in the lobby, a female exits that elevator, and he allows her to walk past him unharmed,” Commissioner Tisch said.
Tamura then went to the 33rd floor, the office of Rudin Management, a New York real estate firm, where he began to walk the floor firing rounds.
“One person was struck and killed on that floor,” Commissioner Tisch said.
“He then proceeds down the hallway and shoots himself in the chest.”
Tamura is believed to have driven across the country from Las Vegas to New York to carry out the attack, with footage showing his car in Colorado on July 26, Nebraska and Iowa on July 27, and in New Jersey just hours before the shooting.
“According to our law enforcement partners in Las Vegas, Mr Tamura has a documented mental health history,” Commissioner Tisch said.
“His motives are still under investigation, and we are working to understand why he targeted this particular location.”
Tamura, who was born in Hawaii but later moved to California and Las Vegas, had a concealed carry permit for a handgun as well as an expired private investigator license in Nevada, it was reported.
As a teenager he played competitive football and was a stand-out running back at Granada Hills Charter High School in California, according to an old interview he did with a local news outlet.
GUN SMEARED WITH BLOOD AFTER MASSACRE
Terrifying images show how workers at Blackstone rapidly barricaded themselves inside their offices inside the Park Avenue building to keep themselves safe from the shooter.
Images showed employees piling up couches, tables and desks in front of a door as the gunman went on his rampage through the 44-storey building, which houses the headquarters for asset management agency Blackstone and the NFL.
Workers even appeared to be pulling apart their desks in an attempt to add more furniture onto the barricade.
A witness on the first floor said that “it sounded like a barrage of shots …Like an automatic weapon. Like a high-capacity weapon.”
Chilling images showed Tamura calmly strolling across the Park Avenue skyscraper’s entry plaza with an assault rifle at his side before carrying out the carnage.
Sources told The Post the number of victims are expected to rise as authorities search the skyscraper in the aftermath of the mayhem.
The bloodstained assault rifle used by Tamura during his deadly rampage was shown in shocking detail in photos obtained by The Post.
The Palmetto State Armory AR-15 assault rifle used in the shooting that killed an NYPD cop and four civilians is .223-caliber and is equipped with a black scope, a handguard and a shoulder sling.
SLAIN COP IDENTIFIED
Speaking at a press conference, a solemn Mayor Eric Adams said “this never, never gets easy”.
“We’re still unravelling what took place,” he said. “Our hearts are heavy. Five innocent people (were) shot tonight.”
He said the slain police officer, Didarul Islam, was a member of the 47th precinct who had joined the NYPD three-and-a-half years ago.
“He was saving lives, he was protecting New Yorkers,” Mayor Adams said.
He said the slain officer was an immigrant from Bangladesh who was a “true blue New Yorker”.
Mayor Adams said he met with the officer’s family and described him as a hero.
He said at least two men and one woman were killed by Tamura and another man was fighting for life in hospital after the “violent despicable attack.”
“No words can describe this act of evil,” he said.
Mayor Adams said it was a reminder of how easy it was for Americans to access guns.
“Tonight we mourn for those who were killed and we pray for the families as they go through this painful moment,” he said.
Mr Islam was off-duty working as security for Rudin Management Company in the building, but was in NYPD uniform, sources said.
SHOOTER ACTED ALONE, SAY OFFICIALS
Earlier, NYPD Police Commissioner Tisch pleaded with New Yorkers to avoid the area as police locked down the area.
The gunman is believed to have acted alone, she said.
“The scene has been contained and the lone shooter has been neutralised,” she wrote on X just over an hour after the chaos started.
One man who apparently works in the Park Avenue tower was seen sitting on a marble stoop outside a nearby building hyperventilating with a bandage around their hand.
“I was at work and this guy came in with an assault rifle and started shooting. I was in the lobby at work,” the man said into a phone while calling a loved-one.
Oleksandr Stupak, 30, was standing on the street nearby when he heard gunshots ring out — and watched in shock as armed police flooded the building
“I was on the one block away and I heard shots being fired and then a bunch of police, they came to neutralise it,” he said. “I went to the Citizen app and it says active shooting. A lot of police started to come. I mean. (It’s) crazy.”
The blocks surrounding the building were flooded with police cars, fire engines, ambulances and first responders, while helicopters filled the sky overhead.
And footage from the scene showed officers hastily performing CPR on an apparent victim after hauling his limp body in the middle of the street.
The FBI and bomb squad has also responded to the scene.
Meanwhile, two apparent protesters, including one who yelled, “Free Palestine, I’m not the shooter,” were arrested outside of the building around the time of the shooting.
This article was originally published on the New York Post
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Originally published as Manhattan mass shooting: 4 dead after gunman storms Park Avenue skyscraper
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