The family of a young real estate employee killed in last year’s deadly Midtown mass shooting intends to file a $65 million lawsuit against New York City, arguing that police “utterly and completely” failed to stop the gunman before he entered 345 Park Ave.
According to newly filed court papers, the parents and sister of Julia Hyman — a 27-year-old Cornell University graduate — say they were allowed to review previously unseen security footage that they believe shows NYPD Det. Didarul Islam, who was also killed in the attack, “bears liability” for her death.
The footage, which the filing says “captured the horrific events as they unfolded” on July 28, 2025, allegedly shows Islam working a paid security assignment inside the tower and standing at a lobby window with a clear view of both the plaza and the approaching gunman.
Yet the petition filed Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court claims the 36-year-old officer — a Bangladeshi immigrant, husband and father — “utterly and completely failed to identify an obvious impending security threat and took no actions whatsoever to thwart or mitigate said threat.”
The shooter, Shane Tamura, had reportedly left his home in Las Vegas two days earlier and driven to New York in what authorities believe was an attempt to target the NFL. After arriving, he got out of his double-parked vehicle and walked across the plaza outside the building while visibly carrying an M4-style rifle.
From there, Tamura entered a revolving door just to Islam’s right, and the lawsuit alleges the detective “took no notice of the gunman, took no actions and offered no resistance whatsoever.”
“Not a single action by Detective Islam deterred, detected, disrupted, or delayed the gunman’s unimpeded path from the street, up steps, across the plaza, and through the 345 Park Avenue lobby doors,” the filing claims.
“The actions and/or inactions of Detective Islam at the time the assailant crossed the plaza and entered the lobby were negligent and implicate liability” on behalf of the city, the court papers state.
Islam was the first to be shot by Tamura as he entered the building, later dying from his four gunshot wounds in the hospital. The NYPD detectives’ union described his shooting as an “ambush” at the time.
Islam’s family sued Rudin Management, which owns and operates the building, last year for not securing the outdoor plaza. But the Hyman family claims the slain officer and the city bear responsibility for their loved one’s death.
“It became apparent upon viewing the surveillance footage depicting Detective Islam and where he was stationed that the City of New York, by its Police Department, may bear liability for the negligence of Detective Islam for the happening of this tragic occurrence,” the filing states.
The family, parents Nanci and Greg Hyman and sister Alison Fiedler, negotiated with Rubin to view the footage, which was not filed with the court, according to the petition.
Investigators believe Tamura, 27, aimed to go to the NFL offices in the building but got on the wrong elevator bank instead ended up on the 33rd floor — where he murdered Hyman, who was an associate at Rudin.
“In the moments before being shot, she experienced pre-shooting terror. After being shot, she suffered from intractable pain and the fear of impending death,” the court papers state.
Tamura also shot dead 43-year-old Wesley LePatner, the CEO of a Blackstone real estate investment fund, and Aland Etienne, 46, a security guard at the high-rise.
The city just awarded Islam the NYPD’s Metal of Honor — the department’s highest award — earlier this week.
His widow, Jamila Akhter, accepted the honor on his behalf while carrying their baby, Arham.
The Hyman family argues that because Islam was working as a private security guard as part of the NYPD’s Paid Detail Unit, the city should be found fully liable for the actions of its “rented police officers,” wrote their attorney, Jeff Korek, in the filing.
The petition also notes that the family had to sign a non-disclosure agreement with Rudin in order to view the horrific video.
The family previously hired big-shot attorney Alex Spiro with plans to sue Rudin last year.
Neither Korek nor city officials responded to a request for comment.
