A former high school football player, Shane Tamura, allegedly shot and killed four people in a New York City office building.
Tamura reportedly targeted the NFL offices but entered the wrong elevator, ending up on a different floor.
He left a note mentioning CTE, a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head trauma.
The man who police say shot and killed four people Monday, July 28, in New York City was a former high school football player in California, according to multiple reports and information collected by USA TODAY Sports.
Shane Tamura, 27, of Nevada was identified by police as the person who stormed into a Midtown Manhattan office building where the NFL and other prominent businesses are headquartered. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said one NFL employee was shot and seriously injured, according to a memo he sent to NFL staff that was obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
Mayor Eric Adams said on Tuesday, July 29, that preliminary investigations show the gunman may have targeted the NFL offices on floors 5-8 of the 44-floor building but entered the wrong elevator shaft and ended up on the 33rd floor instead, where he then killed himself.
Tamura left behind a three-page note claiming he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, according to multiple media reports. CTE is a brain condition experienced by people who have repeated blows to the head, often through contact sports such as football.
Where did Shane Tamura play football?
Tamura played varsity high school football at Granada Hills Charter School, a K-12 school in Los Angeles during the 2015-16 season, according to MaxPreps.com. He also played football at Golden Valley High School in Santa Clarita, California, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Shane Tamura football career, stats
Tamura was a running back and defensive back, according to MaxPreps.com data. He is listed as a senior in 2016 and rushed for 616 yards on 126 carries and had five touchdowns in nine games played. He also had 229 receiving yards for two touchdowns.
On special teams, Tamura had 15 returns for 442 yards and one touchdown.
Shane Tamura video after high school football game
After police identified Tamura as the alleged shooter, a video went viral on social media showing Tamura speaking after a September 2015 game of his senior season.
‘Right before the play, coach asked me if the 2-screen was open,’ Tamura said. ‘I told him ‘yes. I got this coach.’ I caught the pass and weaved my way down and then broke free. I ran as hard as I could.’
‘We kept our heads up,’ said Tamura, who had 21 carries for 95 yards in the game. ‘The coaches told us to let it all go. We had to keep our heads and keep playing. There was a lot of emotions and anger about this game. We wanted to win this one real bad. We worked hard and practiced extra late for this game. This rivalry has been around longer than I have been alive. It’s a big one.’
Did Shane Tamura play in the NFL?
There was no known connection between Tamura and the NFL as of the afternoon of July 29, aside from his mention of the league and its history handling CTE cases.
USA TODAY Sports reached out to the league for comments but did not immediately receive a response.
An NFL employee was seriously injured and in stable condition at a New York hospital on July 28, Goodell told staff in the memo.
‘We believe that all of our employees are otherwise safe and accounted for, and the building has nearly been cleared,’ Goodell wrote in the memo.
Did Shane Tamura have CTE?
It is impossible to determine definitively if a person has chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease often seen in football players and caused by repetitive head injuries, until a brain autopsy is performed post-mortem.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch did state Tamura ‘has a documented mental health history,’ according to law enforcement partners in Las Vegas.
