ESPN News ServicesJul 29, 2025, 08:33 AM ET
A gunman who killed four people at a Manhattan office building before killing himself was trying to target the headquarters of the NFL but took the wrong elevator, officials said Tuesday.
Investigators believe Shane Tamura, a 27-year-old Las Vegas casino worker, was trying to get to the NFL offices after shooting several people Monday in the building’s lobby but accidentally entered the wrong set of elevator banks, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in interviews.
Four people, including off-duty New York City police officer Didarul Islam, were killed. Tamura, who played high school football in California roughly a decade ago but never in the NFL, had a history of mental illness, police said.
A three-page note found in Tamura’s wallet suggested he had a grievance against the NFL over a claim that he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The degenerative brain disease has been linked to concussions and other repeated head trauma common in contact sports such as football, but it can be diagnosed only after someone has died.
In the note, Tamura repeatedly said he was sorry and asked that his brain be studied for CTE, according to the police department.
The note also referenced former NFL player Terry Long, who was diagnosed with CTE, and the manner in which Long killed himself in 2005. The note accused the NFL of concealing the dangers to players’ brains for profit.
The New York Post reported Tuesday that the note also mentioned “League of Denial,” a PBS documentary about concussions in the NFL, and the “Fainaru Brothers,” an apparent reference to ESPN reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru, who wrote a book released alongside the documentary. It also mentioned several prominent doctors who have studied concussions.
The NFL long denied the link between football and CTE, but it acknowledged the connection in 2016 testimony before Congress and has paid more than $1.4 billion to retired players to settle concussion-related claims.
Asked whether Tamura would be tested for CTE, Adams told CNN that the city’s medical examiner would make that determination.
In response to ESPN, the medical examiner’s office said: “The medical examiner is investigating and will share the cause and manner of death when available.
An examination of brain (neuropathology) is part of the complete autopsy process.”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell called the shooting “an unspeakable act of violence in our building,” saying he was deeply grateful to the law enforcement officers who responded and the officer who died protecting others.
Goodell said in a memo to staff that a league employee was seriously injured in the attack and was hospitalized in stable condition.
Goodell added that there would be an “increased security presence” at the league’s offices “in the days and weeks to come.” He said employees based in New York should work remotely Tuesday or could take the day off.
“Every one of you is a valued member of the NFL family,” Goodell said. “We will get through this together.”
The shooting happened at 345 Park Avenue, one of the nation’s most recognized streets, and just blocks from Grand Central Terminal and Rockefeller Center. It’s also less than a 15-minute walk from where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed last December by a man who prosecutors say was angry over corporate greed.
Source: Espnnfl
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