NEW YORK. A mass shooting at a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper that left five people dead, including the gunman, has raised questions about building security and mental health intervention after officials confirmed the shooter had been flagged as a threat by a surveillance system moments before the attack.
The gunman, identified as Shane Tamura, 27, of Las Vegas, was captured on security cameras approaching 345 Park Avenue with an assault-style rifle, just seconds before entering the lobby and opening fire. According to two former federal officials familiar with security systems in high-rise buildings, a computer-generated yellow alert box appeared around Tamura on the camera feed, a warning meant to prompt immediate action from security staff.
Despite the alert, Tamura managed to shoot four people fatally, two security officers, a real estate executive, and a business associate, before taking his own life inside the offices of Rudin Management on the 33rd floor. The incident marks the deadliest mass shooting in New York City in over 25 years.
Among the victims was Didarul Islam, a 36-year-old NYPD officer assigned to security detail, and Aland Etienne, a private security guard. Wesley LePatner, a senior executive at Blackstone, and Julia Hyman, a business associate at Rudin and a Cornell graduate, were also killed. An employee of the NFL, which shares office space in the tower, was critically injured.
Police revealed Tamura had left behind a “suicide note” blaming the National Football League for his mental health struggles. In the note, Tamura claimed to be suffering from CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), a degenerative brain disease commonly linked to repeated head trauma in contact sports like football. He was never an NFL player but had played high school football in California.
“‘Study my brain. I’m sorry,’” Tamura reportedly wrote, referencing a 2013 Frontline documentary on CTE that featured former NFL players. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed that the note appeared to point to a motive focused on the league.
Tamura had worked as a security guard in Las Vegas and reportedly drove alone across the country before carrying out the attack. He had previously been detained twice under mental health crisis holds in 2022 and 2024, according to police sources.
Authorities are now tracing Tamura’s route from Nevada to New York and are questioning an associate believed to have purchased a component of the AR-15-style rifle used in the shooting.
Security experts say the building’s surveillance system, typical of high-end offices in New York, was designed to detect threats in real time and alert on-site personnel. However, former federal advisors emphasized that such systems still rely on trained human response.
“You can’t automate this away,” said Michael Dorn, executive director of Safe Havens International. “The alert must be acted on immediately to be effective.”
The incident has reignited concerns among corporate clients, many of whom have increased private security and executive protection. Some firms on Park Avenue temporarily closed offices following the shooting, while the NFL allowed employees to work remotely for the rest of the week.
The building’s bathrooms, designed as bulletproof safe rooms, may have prevented further casualties, according to Mayor Eric Adams.
The NYPD continues to investigate the case, which has once again underscored the dangers posed by untreated mental illness, lax interstate gun regulations, and the limitations of even advanced security technology.
Edgardo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
- EDGARDO HERNAL
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