Former NFL player Terry Long was named in a suicide note by Shane Tamura, the gunman who opened fire at Manhattan’s 345 Park Avenue on Monday.

After killing four individuals, 27-year-old Tamura fatally shot himself in the chest. His victims have been identified as Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner, NYPD officer Didarul Islam, Cornell graduate Julia Hyman, and security guard Aland Etienne. 

Tamura targeted the skyscraper because it houses the NFL’s headquarters, officials said on Tuesday. 

However, NYC Mayor Eric Adams disclosed that the shooter missed reaching the NFL’s HQ due to taking the incorrect elevator, ending up on the 33rd floor. 

The 27-year-old was found deceased with a note referencing CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), a brain condition linked to head trauma, common among former football players. 

Specifically, Tamura claimed to suffer from CTE himself, and expressed his grievances with the NFL and their handling of the condition.

In his note, Tamura mentioned Long, a former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman who also suffered from the condition, which can only be confirmed posthumously.

‘Terry Long football gave me CTE and it caused me to drink a gallon of antifreeze,’ Tamura expressed, according to CNN. ‘You can’t go against the NFL; they’ll squash you. Study my brain please, I’m sorry.’

Former NFL player Terry Long was named in New York gunman Shane Tamura’s sucide note

Long died at the age of 45, committing suicide after reportedly drinking antifreeze

Long, who passed away by suicide at 45 after consuming a gallon of antifreeze, had a revised 2006 death certificate indicating this. A coroner initially ruled his June 2005 death as a result of meningitis.

The former football player was found unresponsive at his home and died in hospital. Only later was he diagnosed with CTE.

Long had played for the Steelers as a guard throughout his seven–year career, which ended in 1991.

That year, he was suspended for violating the NFL’s steroid policy and attempted suicide.

A report from the LA Times in 1991 says that in a statement to police, Long says he tried to kill himself by swallowing ‘two or three sleeping pills,’ contradicting earlier reports he had taken rat poison. 

Long later checked into the psychiatric ward at Allegheny General Hospital for a mental health evaluation. 

In the months before Long’s suicide, he was also facing legal issues.

In March of 2005, he was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges he fraudulently obtained loans for a chicken–processing plant which prosecutors allege he burned to the ground in September 2003 for the insurance money. He was arrested in late March that year and released on $10,000 bond.

Tamura targeted the skyscraper because it houses the NFL’s headquarters, officials said

Two of Tamura’s four victims have since been identified as Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner (L) and Cornell graduate Julia Hyman (R)

The other two victims killed by Tamura have been identified as NYPD officer Didarul Islam (L) and security guard Aland Etienne (R)

The Steelers player was reportedly struggling with personal issues. At the time of his death, Long’s neighbor said he was separated from his second wife and was depressed about that, as well as the federal charges he faced.

After his death, Long was ruled to have sustained CTE. His name is among hundreds of former NFL players to have been diagnosed with the condition after their death. 

Amongst the hundreds of others include Aaron Hernandez of the New England Patriots and Andre Waters of the Philadelphia Eagles. 

Long was born in South Carolina and played at college level for the East Carolina Pirates from 1980 until 1983. 

Tamura, meanwhile, was believed to have been an aspiring football player. He played football at his high school in California as a running back.

‘He came in, worked hard, kept his nose down,’ his former coach, Walter Roby, told NBC. 

‘He was a quiet kid, well–mannered, very coachable. Whatever needed to be done, he would do. I’m just blown away right now.’

This was not Tamura’s first act of violence. In September 2023, the 17–year–old was arrested on suspicion of trespassing at the Summerlin hotel and casino in Las Vegas, according to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report obtained Tuesday.

Gunman Tamura, 27, named Long in his suicide note after opening fire in Manhattan

A police officer was called to the casino at about 4:30 am after Tamura refused to leave the property. 

He had tried to collect about $5,000 from the casino, but refused to show his ID card, the report said.

The officer noted that Tamura seemed to be ‘agitated,’ and that he attempted to ‘grab’ a security officer before he was detained, arrested and booked into the Clark County Detention Center. 

Police found a host of items in Tamura’s car following his shooting spree.

In his black BMW, officers discovered a box containing plastic bags of ammunition and an additional loaded magazine for the M4 rifle Tamura used in the attack.

There was also a pair of headphones – likely used for ear protection or target protection, two cell phones, Zoloft – an antidepressant – and cannabis, according to a law enforcement source.

A handwritten note found on the gunman listed names of neuroscientists. There were no further notes next to the names.