Manhattan mass shooting suspect Shane Tamura's Las Vegas activities investigated
New York City police detectives searched the Las Vegas studio apartment of the suspected gunman in Monday's mass shooting at a Midtown Manhattan office tower and found what law enforcement sources described to ABC News as a suicide note he left for his parents.
The suspect, 27-year-old Shane Tamura, died by suicide after fatally shooting four people, including an off-duty NYPD officer and a security officer, when he burst into the high-rise at 345 Park Ave. around 6:30 p.m. on Monday wearing body armor and firing a high-powered AR-15-style rifle, authorities said.
Tamura drove more than 2,000 miles from his home in Las Vegas to New York City to carry out the attack, authorities allege.
NYPD detectives traveled to Las Vegas overnight to serve a search warrant on Tamura's apartment and interview people who knew and worked with the suspect.
During the search of Tamura's apartment, according to law enforcement sources, investigators found an apparent suicide note he left for his mother and father, a retired Los Angeles police officer, writing, "When I look into you and dad's eyes, all I see is disappointment. I love you, Mama. I'm sorry."
The search also turned up a tripod for the rifle, a single rifle round and 100 rounds of 9mm ammunition, according to sources.
Investigators also interviewed Tamura's supervisor at the Horseshoe hotel and casino in Las Vegas, where the suspect, according to a spokesperson, was an employee in the surveillance department.
The supervisor informed investigators that he sold Tamura the gun, an M4-style semiautomatic Palmetto State Armory PA-15 rifle, that was allegedly used in the Manhattan mass shooting, according to law enforcement sources. The supervisor, who the sources said was cooperative with police, claimed he legally purchased the gun and sold it to Tamura fully assembled with a scope and a barrel flashlight for $1,400, according to sources.
The supervisor, according to sources, also told investigators he sold Tamura the black BMW the suspect drove across the country.
A motive for the attack remains under investigation, but New York City Mayor Eric Adams said it appears Tamura, a former high school football player, was attempting to target the headquarters of the National Football League, located in the 345 Park Ave. building but took the wrong elevator and ended up in the 33rd-floor office of Rudin Management.
In another note found in Tamura's pocket in the aftermath of the attack, the suspect claimed he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a disease linked to repeated hits to the head, often seen in military veterans and athletes, including football players, hockey players and boxers, sources told ABC News. In the note, Tamura asked that his brain be studied, sources said.
It remains unknown if Tamura suffered from CTE, which can't be diagnosed in a living person with certainty, though doctors may suspect it based on symptoms and a history of head trauma.
Law enforcement sources told ABC News that Tamura had two mental health crisis holds in his background in Nevada, one in 2022 and the other in 2024. Those holds typically allow a person to be detained for up to 72 hours if they are thought to be a danger to themselves or others.
As the investigation continued on Wednesday, the first funeral was held for one of the victims of the attack, Julia Hyman, an associate at Rudin Management, which is also located in the Park Avenue building. Hyman's funeral was held at the Central Synagogue in Midtown Manhattan.
Hyman is believed to be the last victim Tamura allegedly killed before he fatally shot himself in the chest in Rudin Management's office on the 33rd floor.
On Thursday, a funeral will be held for NYPD officer Didarul Islam, who was working security at the Park Avenue building and was shot while trying to confront the suspect in the building's lobby, officials said. The funeral for Islam, a married father of two who leaves behind a pregnant wife, will be held at the Parkchester Jame Masjid mosque in the Bronx.
Also killed in the attack were Aland Etienne, a security officer at the Park Avenue building, who was also shot when he confronted the gunman on the first floor of the building, and Wesley LePatner, a married mom of two and a chief executive officer at Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, which is also located in the building.
