On Monday afternoon in Manhattan, at a building housing NFL offices, a deranged man shot and killed four people, including an off-duty New York City police officer, and injured several others before taking his own life.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that the gunman, Shane Tamura, appeared to be targeting NFL employees, citing a note found near his body.
“He seemed to have blamed the NFL,” Adams said in an interview with WPIX-TV. “The NFL headquarters was located in the building, and he mistakenly went up the wrong elevator bank.”
Tamura allegedly shot several people in the building’s lobby before mistakenly entering the wrong elevator, which took him to the 33rd floor, where he continued firing. The NFL offices are on floors 5 through 8.
The Associated Press reports that Tamura’s rambling suicide note placed blame on the NFL for an unsubstantiated claim that he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) despite never playing in the league. He did play football in California roughly 20 years ago.
Although Tamura didn’t reach the NFL offices, one of his bullets did strike an NFL employee, who was hospitalized and is in stable condition as of Tuesday morning.
“One of our employees was seriously injured in this attack. He is currently in the hospital and in stable condition,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a memo, which was obtained by ESPN. “NFL staff are at the hospital and we are supporting his family. We believe that all of our employees are otherwise safe and accounted for, and the building has nearly been cleared.
“Every one of you is a valued member of the NFL family. We will get through this together.”
Before the team’s practice on Tuesday, New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll addressed the shooting and offered his condolences to the victims and their families.
“You all saw what happened at 345 Park Ave, tragic. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people that were affected in that tragedy, here with the Giants,” he said.
At the time of his press conference, Daboll said he had not spoken to the team about it.
Tamura, who police say has a documented history of mental illness, traveled from Las Vegas to carry out the shooting, which was the deadliest in New York City since 2000.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: New York Giants coach Brian Daboll addresses shooting that targeted NFL offices
Reporting by Dan Benton, Giants Wire / Giants Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
