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DRAMATIC photos reveal how office employees attempted to shield themselves from a shooter who attacked a luxurious high-rise and tragically took four lives during his violent spree.
Staffers at the investment management company Blackstone stacked piles of furniture against the door as they sought shelter.
The gunman, identified as Shane Tamura, invaded 345 Park Avenue, a building that also houses the NFL, and took the lives of several individuals before committing suicide.
Pictures obtained by the ABC affiliate WABC-TV showed furniture stacked on top of each other.
Sofas and chairs were just bundled together as a barricade was created.
Some staffers even used the wooden desks as defenses.
Blackstone workers sent messages on Teams warning people not to go downstairs.
Other staffers are said to have locked themselves in bathrooms as the shooter went on his rampage.
Tamura, of Las Vegas, Nevada, traveled cross country as he made his way to New York City.
The drive, which is more than 2,500 miles, takes approximately 37 hours.
Tamura was reported driving through Colorado on Saturday, and Nebraska and Iowa on Sunday.
He failed to show up at the Las Vegas casino where he worked as a security guard.
Just two hours before the first 911 calls were reported, he was seen in Columbia, New Jersey – located around 70 miles from Midtown.
Jessica Tisch, the New York Police Commissioner, said his car was then clocked entering New York City.
He was armed with a rifle when he parked on Park Avenue before heading to the building.
Tamura, who was sporting a bulletproof vest, shot dead police officer Didarul Islam before spraying the lobby with gunfire.
Islam, from Bangladesh, was a married dad-of-two and his wife was pregnant with their third child.
Timeline of NYC shooting
A gunman stormed 345 Park Avenue in Midtown, Manhattan, on Monday night killing four before turning the gun on himself.
Police are currently probing into the reasons behind Shane Tamura’s vicious assault, releasing an initial timetable and retracing his recent activities.
July 26 – Tamura drives through Colorado in his black BMW
July 27 – Tamura drives through Nebraska and Iowa. He also doesn’t show up for work as a security guard at a Las Vegas casino
July 28, 6.28pm – Reports of the shooting are first made to NYPD. Tamura had moments earlier double parked his car and walked across a plaza into 345 Park Avenue
Once inside, Tamura shoots off-duty officer Didarul Islam working as security dead
He guns down a woman cowering behind a pillar as he sprays the lobby with bullets
Tamura walks towards the elevators where he shoots dead a security guard crouching at his desk
Gunman spares woman’s life after she walks out of elevator in front of him
He travels up to the 33rd floor to Rudin Properties’ office and fires as he walks the floor killing one
Tamura shoots himself in his chest ending his life and ending the rampage
7.52pm – NYC Police Commissioner Tisch posted on X: “the scene has been contained and the lone shooter has been neutralized.”
Tisch said Islam made the “ultimate sacrifice.”
“He died as he lived, a hero.”
Tamura shot dead an off-duty worker and killed a woman, who was desperately trying to shield herself behind a pillar.
Cops revealed Tamura shot a security guard as he trooped over to the elevator bank.
He then shot another man in the lobby.
Tamura then took the elevator to the 33rd floor and killed one person.
He then shot himself and died from the self-inflicted wound.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a Blackstone chief was among those killed.
And, other staffers were hospitalized.
Cops are still probing the motive behind the shooting.
But, they found a loaded revolver, rifle case, backpack and medication in his car.
Cops also combed the car for explosives, but didn’t find anything.
Tamura was carrying a M4 style rifle, according to Tisch.
Tamura, a former football player, is believed to have been carrying a note, sources told CNN.
He claimed he had been suffering from the Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, commonly known as CTE.
“You can’t go against the NFL,” the note reportedly said.
“Study my brain please.”
Tamura’s friends thought he wasn’t capable of carrying out such a massacre.
The shooting unfolded as swathes of staffers were about to head home and to bars and restaurants after work.
One woman, Neikesha Lewis, had just had dinner with her friends when she saw the commotion, according to the Associated Press.
“Help, help, help, I’m shot,” she heard one man say as he scampered from a building.
“It was like a crowd panic,” Anna Smith, who sought shelter in a finance building, said.
She and other staffers were inside for two hours before they were allowed to leave.
The US has seen more than 250 mass shootings already this year, according to The Gun Violence Archive.
The organization defines a mass shooting as an incident where four or more people are shot, not including the perpetrator.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.
