The makeshift barricade reached the ceiling of the building’s 32nd floor, which also houses the National Football League and auditor KPMG. The vicinity features several luxury business hotels and the United Nations headquarters. Reports suggest that frantic workers even dismantled wood desks to intensify the barricade. The shooter, Tamura, who wielded an M4 assault rifle, killed four people, including a police officer, when he opened fire in the bustling heart of New York City before ending his own life. In alarming security footage, the gunman is depicted entering the midtown Manhattan office in a sport coat and button-down shirt, visibly carrying the rifle.

Shane Tamura (pictured), a former high school football player with a background of mental health struggles, traveled cross-country leading up to the incident, according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Details revealed he was recently dismissed from his job as a security guard at a Las Vegas casino. Tamura utilized a silencer on his rifle during the attack at around 6:30 pm, as reported by CNN. His firearm was equipped with a scope and strap. Although off-duty, NYPD officer Didarul Islam, 36, who had served for three years, was working private security at that moment and was fatally shot in the building’s lobby.

In the gruesome assault, the gunman approached the elevator area, shooting a security guard taking cover and another individual in the lobby, according to Tisch. Afterwards, he ascended to the 33rd-floor real estate management company, where he fatally shot another person. The gunman subsequently proceeded along a corridor and took his own life, Tisch reported. The 27-year-old Tamura was discovered with a note expressing grievances with the NFL’s approach to CTE. Tamura criticized the NFL and urged for his brain to be examined, referencing Terry Long in his demand for study, as reported by CNN.

The note made mention of former Pittsburgh Steeler Terry Long, who tragically ended his life in 2006 after battling CTE. “Study my brain, please. I’m sorry. Tell Rick I’m sorry for everything,” the note conveyed. Authorities disclosed Tamura’s journey from his Las Vegas residence in his black BMW, traveling through Colorado on July 26, eventually reaching Manhattan via New Jersey. Chilling footage captured him in a sport coat and shirt carrying the assault rifle into the NFL’s headquarters before commencing the shooting.

Tamura had been a high school football standout, dedicated to the sport with aspirations suggesting a disciplined and team-focused future. In his senior year, he achieved Player of the Game status six times, with impressive rushing stats. However, recent years revealed a “documented mental health history,” according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Despite this, Tamura obtained a private investigator’s license and a concealed carry permit legally through the Las Vegas Sheriff’s Department. He carried this license as he entered the building to execute the shooting.

Officer Didarul Islam (pictured), a 36-year-old father-of-two who was working private security at the time, was then shot in the back and killed and an unidentified security guard who took cover behind a desk was also targeted. From there, police say Tamura took the elevator up to the 33rd floor and the offices of Rudin Management, which operates the building, and shot and killed a third victim before taking his own life. The National Football League headquarters are on the fifth floor of the building, which law enforcement officials say Tamura did not travel to. However, an employee of the league was ‘seriously injured,’ according to a memo to staff written by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and obtained by CNN. He said the unidentified employee was rushed to the hospital, where other league employees are comforting his family. All of the other employees are believed to be safe and accounted for, Goodell said, as he vowed to boost security at the league’s headquarters ‘in the days and weeks to come.’

In the meantime, police in New York City and in Nevada are continuing to comb Tamura’s social media presence and are rifling through his Las Vegas home to collect evidence pointing to a motive. They have already found a rifle case with rounds, a loaded revolver, ammunition and magazines, as well as a backpack and medication prescribed to him inside his vehicle. It is now believed Tamura was the sole shooter in the broad daylight attack, as police say there is no evidence he had an accomplice. Still, officers are continuing to work to determine whether anyone may have helped plan or facilitate his movements across state lines or into the high-security office tower, which was put on lockdown as heavily-armed police officers swarmed the floors. Photos from the scene showed scores of people in business attire frantically leaving with their hands up, as others inside the building barricaded the doors with furniture to prevent Tamura from entering.

The shooting also led to a chaotic scene in Midtown Manhattan, with nearby worker Anna Smith, who had just stepped out to grab dinner, describing the ‘crowd panic’ that wafted over the area. ‘People just started running,’ she said. ‘We had no idea what was going on.’ Another witness told The New York Post that ‘it sounded like a barrage of shots …Like an automatic weapon. Like a high-capacity weapon.’ Another person told the paper that a ‘guy came in with an assault rifle and started shooting.’ A shocking image showed the victim splayed out on the floor of the office building after he suffered the self-inflicted gunshot wound. His bloodied weapon, which was equipped with a silencer, was found nearby.

Meanwhile, the city’s emergency management system issued alerts about road closures, subway disruptions, and traffic delays around Grand Central Terminal and St. Patrick’s Cathedral – both just blocks from the shooting scene. As night fell, many turned their attention to the loss of Officer Islam, who was working in private security for Rudin Management Company Monday night, according to The New York Post. He regularly works in the Bronx’s 47th precinct ‘He was doing what he does best, as all members of the police department carry out he was saving lives,’ New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at an evening news conference. ‘He was protecting New Yorkers. He’s an immigrant from Bangladesh, and he loved this city, and everyone we spoke with stated he was a person of faith and a person that believed in God and believed in living out the life of a godly person.’ NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch also said that Islam ‘died as he lived: a hero.’

‘He was doing the job that we asked him to do. He put himself in harm’s way, he made the ultimate sacrifice — shot in cold blood, wearing a uniform that stood for the promise that he made to the city,’ Tisch added. ‘I want to extend my profound sympathies to all of the victims and their families and to the brave NYPD cops who today lost a brother,’ she concluded. Patrick Hendry, the president of the Police Benevolent Association, called the loss ‘devastating.’ ‘He was a hardworking police officer who was proud we know from hearing from his family to put on that uniform and shield of a New York City police officer, Hendry said. ‘Every day, he went out and did his job, and he went out every single day to provide for his family, whether it was overtime or whatever he had to do to provide for this family.’

In a statement, the New York Police Department also called Islam ‘the very best of our department. ‘He was protecting New Yorkers from danger when his life was tragically cut short today,’ the department said. ‘We join in prayer during this time of incomprehensible pain. We will forever honor his legacy.’ Officials have not released any further information about the others killed and injured in the massacre on Monday.

But New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state mourns ‘four New Yorkers, including one of New York’s Finest, taken in a senseless act of violence. Our hearts are with their loved ones and everyone affected by this tragedy, and we honor the first responders who bravely ran toward danger.’ Mayor Adams added that the city is reeling as ‘four innocent families are mourning.’ He said that in addition to Officer Islam, the ‘city also mourns the three other innocent lives lost this evening and is praying for another innocent victim fighting for his life in critical condition. ‘It’s unthinkable these people were taken from us so randomly and senselessly. They and their loved ones are in our hearts.’

Similarly, New York Attorney General Letitia James (pictured) added that she is ‘praying for our law enforcement and the New Yorkers impacted in the shooting situation this evening in Manhattan.’ There have been 254 mass shootings in the United States this year including Monday’s incident in New York, according to the Gun Violence Archive – which defines a mass shooting as four or more people shot.