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Remembering the victims of the Midtown office shooting
Families of some of the victims of the Midtown office shooting have begun the process of laying their loved ones to rest. FOX 5 NY's Linda Schmidt has more.
NEW YORK - Four people, including an NYPD officer, were killed Monday when a gunman walked through a Midtown office building and repeatedly opened fire before turning the gun on himself.
It’s not immediately clear why Shane Tamura chose 345 Park Avenue as his destination after driving across the country with an AR-15-style rifle, though police said that the 27-year-old had a history of mental illness and Mayor Eric Adams says Tamura may have intended to target the National Football League offices there.
The backstory:
Police say Tamura walked into the lobby of 345 Park Avenue around 6:30 p.m. and immediately targeted Didarul Islam, an off-duty NYPD officer working as a security guard. He shot more people there, then headed for the elevator where he allowed a woman to walk by unharmed.
NEW: NYC mayor says gunman may have targeted NFL offices
Tamura then took the elevator to the 33rd floor and continued shooting, killing one more person before fatally shooting himself. He was reportedly carrying a note in which he blamed football-related head trauma for his declining mental health.
Members of the New York City Police Department Crime Scene Unit work at the scene and enter the building with evidence bags to collect evidence where five people were shot. (Photo by Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
345 Park Avenue
What we know:
345 Park Avenue – better known to some as the Blackstone Building – is a 44-story tower home to several businesses, including financial firms like The Blackstone Group, Deutsche Bank, KPMG, and Capital Trust.
The global headquarters for the National Football League occupies the building’s fifth floor.
The 33rd floor houses offices for the building’s owner, Rudin Management Company.
Officers respond to 345 Park Avenue after the shooting. (FOX 5 NY)
What we don't know:
Investigators have not publicly said why Tamura may have targeted that building. It’s not yet clear if he was firing randomly or targeting specific people, or even if he meant to wind up on the 33rd floor.
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Officer among 4 killed in NYC office shooting; NFL employee critical
NYPD Officer Didarul Islam, a 36-year-old father of two with a third child on the way, was killed during a deadly rampage at 345 Park Avenue. Three civilians also died, including a woman in the lobby, a security guard, and a man on the 33rd floor. An NFL employee remains hospitalized in critical condition.
What they're saying:
Tuesday morning, on Good Day New York, Mayor Adams said Tamura may have been "going after" employees in the NFL offices.
"There are two different elevator banks, and as you know, anyone has seen many of our corporate buildings, some banks don't go to every floor. He appeared to have gone to the wrong bank, and he ended up on the floor of Rudin Management."
Dig deeper:
Rudin Management Company is a large real estate firm that owns the building at 345 Park Avenue, along with many other high-end commercial and residential properties across New York City.
Their residential properties mostly include desirable neighborhoods in the Upper East and Upper West sides, while Dock 72 in the Brooklyn Navy Yard is one of their more recent high-profile projects.
The company was founded in 1925 by Samuel Rudin and remains in the Rudin family. It is described by the New York Times as one of the oldest real estate firms in the city; the paper listed the company’s holdings at over $2 billion back in 2001.
The Source: Information in this story came from the NYPD, Rudin's website, the New York Times, and previous reporting by FOX 5 NY.