On Monday evening, a gunman with an M4 rifle opened fire inside an office skyscraper on Park Avenue, killing four people—including a New York City police officer—before taking his own life, which resulted in a horrific mass shooting in central Manhattan.
The event started at 6:00 p.m. (2200 GMT) at 345 Park Avenue, a tower with prestigious corporations like Blackstone, KPMG, and the NFL’s headquarters. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the gunman, 38-year-old Shane Tamura of Las Vegas, was caught on surveillance cameras leaving a black BMW carrying the rifle and immediately shooting an officer at the entrance to the building before “spraying the lobby” with bullets.
Then Tamura advanced to the 33rd level under Rudin Management, where he continued shooting at random until he apparently took his life. From his car, authorities found his weapon together with a revolver, magazines, ammo, and a prescription bearing his name.
Among the four fatalities was one police officer, a 36-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant, Mayor Eric Adams confirmed. Two other men and a woman were also murdered; a fifth victim is still in critical condition.
Investigators claimed that Tamura went across the country from Nevada in recent days. Las Vegas law enforcement says he had a known history of mental health problems but legally carried a firearms permit in his own state.
With drones dispatched and hundreds of police gathering around the densely populated commercial area close to the United Nations headquarters, the shooting triggered a major police response. As terror swept across adjacent office buildings, employees were instructed to find refuge in place.
Shad Sakib, an office worker in the area, remarked, “We were ordered to stay where we were, but then we saw the image of him going through the same place we get lunch.”
Though the FBI is helping the NYPD in the ongoing investigation, officials have not disclosed a motivation. Governor Kathy Hochul of New York stated she had been informed about the tragedy; mayoral contender Zohran Mamdani characterized himself as “heartbroken” for the victims and their families.
The Gun Violence Archive reports that the attack is the 254th mass shooting in the United States this year, therefore highlighting the ongoing suffering caused by gun violence nationwide.
