The head of a private equity firm looked distraught after his wife, a powerful businesswoman, was among four individuals murdered in a New York City mass shooting.
Evan LePatner, 44, appeared weary and distressed the day after his wife, Wesley LePatner, 43, was killed at her office in 345 Park Avenue, a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper.
Wesley was a senior managing director at a prestigious finance giant. She and her husband resided in a $7 million apartment on New York’s Upper East Side with their two young children.
The couple met during their first day studying at Yale in 1999.
LePatner was photographed by the Daily Mail upon returning to his home Tuesday, but he refrained from commenting on the devastating tragedy affecting his family.
Wesley was fatally shot by Shane Tamura, 27, who had driven from Las Vegas to New York City to execute a twisted plot against the National Football League.
Tamura alleged that playing football in high school in California had resulted in the brain condition chronic traumatic encephalopathy, although he had never participated in the NFL.
The NFL’s NYC offices are in the same building as Blackstone, where Wesley worked, with Tamura storming the building with an AR-15-type rifle around 6:30pm Monday.
Evan LePatner, 44, is pictured arriving at his Upper East Side apartment building the day after the murder of his wife Wesley
LePatner, pictured with Wesley in 2018, is now a single father to the couple’s two children
Wesley was one of three murdered in the lobby, while trying to hide from the gunfire behind a pillar.
Also killed in the building’s lobby was New York Police Department Officer Didarul Islam, 36.
Islam leaves behind a wife who is eight months pregnant and the couple’s two young sons. Security guard Aland Etienne, 46, was the third person who died in the lobby.
Gunman Tamura summoned an elevator in a bid to get up to the NFL offices to continue his massacre, but took the wrong car.
He ended up getting out on the 33rd floor, home to property management company Rudin.
There, Tamura murdered 27 year-old Rudin employee Julia Hyman, before taking his own life.
The bloodbath is the worst shooting to hit New York City in 25 years and has sparked revulsion among city leaders and the relatives of those killed.
LePatner had a glittering resume that included a 10 year stint at investment bank Goldman Sachs prior to joining Blackstone.
Wesley was a senior executive working on the property desk at Blackstone’s investment firm
The LePatner family’s apartment building is pictured on Tuesday afternoon
Didarul Islam, 36, and Julia Hyman, 27, were also killed during the Monday evening massacre
Security guard Aland Etienne, 46, was also killed. Gunman Shane Tamura ended the massacre by taking his own life
She was hailed by friends as being a compassionate and kind colleague in the often cut-throat world of finance.
A statement issues by LePatner’s family said: ‘She was the most loving wife, mother, daughter, sister and relative, who enriched our lives in every way imaginable.
‘To so many others, she was a beloved, fiercely loyal and caring friend, and a driven and extraordinarily talented professional and colleague.
‘At this unbearably painful time, we are experiencing an enormous, gaping hole in our hearts that will never be filled, yet we will carry on the remarkable legacy Wesley created.’
LePatner also received a glowing tribute from her Blackstone colleagues.
‘Words cannot express the devastation we feel,’ their statement said.
‘Wesley was a beloved member of the Blackstone family and will be sorely missed.
‘She was brilliant, passionate, warm, generous, and deeply respected within our firm and beyond.
Tamura is pictured in surveillance footage walking into 345 Park Avenue on Monday evening, shortly before the bloodbath began
Tamura was a star football player while growing up in California and appeared to blame the National Football League for his behavior – even though he never played for the NFL
‘She embodied the best of Blackstone. Our prayers are with her husband, children and family.’
Shane Tamura left his home in Las Vegas on Saturday July 26 and drove across the country in his black BMW, arriving in New York City around two hours before the shooting.
He had two prior mental health holds in his home city and was once charged with trespassing at a casino resort, although those charges were later dropped.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told a press conference Monday that Tamura had been given a part for his rifle by an ‘associate’ who has not yet been named.
That associate is now set to be quizzed by New York City Police Department investigators who are en route to Las Vegas.
