By Sam Dorman and Joseph Lord
A shooting in a midtown Manhattan office building on July 28 left four victims dead, including a police officer. Authorities reported that the shooter is also dead.
“Our hearts are heavy. We lost four souls to another senseless act of gun violence, including a member of the New York City Police Department, Officer Islam,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said during a press conference Monday evening.
Adams said the officer, Didarul Islam, was from Bangladesh and was 36 years old, and had served in the New York City Police Department for three and a half years. Islam leaves behind an expecting wife and two children.
The office building targeted in the attack houses offices for some of the country’s largest financial firms—including private equity giant Blackstone—the National Football League, and the consulate general of Ireland.
The four victims who were killed include both men and women. Another man was seriously injured in the shooting and is in “critical but stable condition,” according to authorities. The shooter’s death was self-inflicted, bringing the total number of people shot in the attack to six.
Officials identified the shooter as Shane Tamura, a 27-year-old with a Las Vegas address. Las Vegas law enforcement told New York authorities that Tamura had a documented history of mental health issues.
The motives behind the attack are still being investigated.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch provided details of the shooting that investigators had learned so far, saying that these were preliminary and subject to change.
Tisch reported that 911 calls about the shooting first came in around 6:28 p.m. ET.
Security camera footage ahead of those calls shows a male exiting a double-parked black BMW with Nevada license plates on Park Avenue before walking toward the building that was the target of the attack, 345 Park Avenue.
Tisch said that in a search of the vehicle after the attack, police found “a rifle case with rounds, a loaded revolver ammunition and magazines, a backpack and medication prescribed to Mr. Tamura.” No explosives were found in the vehicle.
Upon entering the lobby, Tamura first shot the police officer, who was stationed near the entrance. He then shot a woman who was taking cover behind a pillar.
He proceeded to walk through the lobby, “spraying it with gunfire,” Tisch said.
Nearby financial workers in the busy area of Midtown Manhattan, which is close to Grand Central Terminal and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, reported a “crowd panic” after loud noises erupted, leading those in the area to seek refuge for hours in nearby buildings until they got the green light from police to exit.
Tisch said four people sustained minor injuries during their attempts to flee.
Tamura then shot a security guard who was taking cover behind a security desk near the elevators. The man who survived the attack in critical condition was also shot around this time, he recounted to officers from his hospital bed.
Tamura then called an elevator. A woman who exited the elevator was allowed to leave unharmed.
Tamura took the elevator to the 33rd floor, home to Rudin Management—a real estate management and development firm that was seemingly targeted in the attack. He began to walk the floor, firing rounds as he went. One woman was struck and killed during this final phase of the shooting before Tamura ended his own life, shooting himself in the chest.
According to Tisch, the BMW seen in the footage of the attack had been used to drive cross-country in just two days, passing through Colorado on Saturday, Nebraska and Iowa on Sunday. It had arrived in Columbia, New Jersey, by 4:42 p.m. on Monday.
Citing Tamura’s documented history of mental illness, Tisch said, “His motives are still under investigation, and we are working to understand why he targeted this particular location.”
Tisch also paid tribute to Islam, the police officer killed in the attack.
“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 this city. He died as he lived—a hero.”
According to FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, the FBI New York Field Office responded to provide support at the crime scene. He later posted on social media that the NYPD was the lead on the investigation and that the motive was under investigation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
