A gunman seen carrying an M4 assault rifle killed four people, including a police officer, when he opened fire in broad daylight in the heart of New York City, before taking his own life.
In terrifying security camera photos, the gunman could be seen striding into a midtown Manhattan office building on Monday wearing a sport coat and button-down shirt while openly carrying the large rifle by his side.
The gunman was identified as 27-year-old Shane Tamura from Las Vegas.
A former high school football player with a history of mental health issues, the gunman had traveled across the country in the days leading up to the shooting, according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
It was also revealed that the gunman had recently been fired as a security guard at a casino in Las Vegas.
The building he targeted houses Blackstone asset management and the NFL.
Tamura had a silencer on his rifle when he opened fire inside the lobby at around 6.30pm, according to CNN. The firearm also had a scope and strap.
NYPD officer Didarul Islam, 36, who had been on the force for three years was working private security at the time on his day off, and was shot and killed in the lobby of the building.
The man went to the elevator bank and shot a security guard who was taking cover behind a security desk and also another man in the lobby, Tisch said.
The man took the elevator to the 33rd floor to a real estate management company and one person was shot and killed on that floor. The man then walked down a hallway and shot himself, she said.
One other shooting victim was also left fighting for their life on Monday night.
During a press conference on Monday night, Commissioner Tisch gave more details about the tragedy while emphasizing the city was safe from the gunman’s terror.
‘I want to be very clear, we believe this to be a lone shooter, and there is no longer an active threat to the public,’ the commissioner said.
The gunman was believed to have acted alone, and investigators had yet to determine a possible motive for the shooting, Tisch told reporters at a late-night news briefing.
His vehicle had traveled across the U.S. through Colorado on July 26 and then Nebraska and Iowa on July 27. It arrived in Columbia, New Jersey, as recently as Monday afternoon, before making it to New York City, she said.
Officers found a rifle case, a revolver, magazines and ammunition in his car, Tisch explained.
The mayhem started when Tamura entered the lobby of the building at 365 Park Avenue wielding the assault rifle before opening fire on NYPD Officer Islam and three others.
The gunman then proceeded to the elevator bank where he shot a security guard before allowing a female to walk out of an elevator before riding up to the 33rd floor.
When he arrive on the floor he opened fire on at least one other person before turning the weapon on himself.
Videos shared online showed officers in protective gear entering the building with their guns drawn.
Another video taken by Fox 5 showed several officers carrying a victim, while others appeared to be tending to a person lying on the ground.
Islam, the officer, emigrated from Bangladesh. He was the father of two young boys. His wife is eight months pregnant with their third child and just days away from giving birth.
EMS First shared a tribute to Officer Islam following the news.
‘Tonight, a chair at the dinner table is left empty. Tonight, a family grieves a loss that cannot be measured. Tonight, a hero made the ultimate, selfless sacrifice in the line of duty,’ it wrote on Instagram.
‘Remember his name. Honor his service. Never forget his face.’
‘Pure evil came to the heart of our city and struck innocent people and one of our police officers who were protecting those people,’ Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association, said at late night press conference.
Two people, a man and a woman, were also taken into custody at the scene, according to AMNY.
The woman had a cut on her head and the man allegedly said, ‘Free Palestine, I’m not the active shooter.’
A witness told the New York Post that ‘it sounded like a barrage of shots …Like an automatic weapon. Like a high-capacity weapon.’
Another person told the paper that a ‘guy came in with an assault rifle and started shooting.’
A shocking image showed the victim splayed out on the 33rd floor of the office building after he suffered the self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Tamura, the gunman, grew up in Hawaii where he played football in high school before moving to California for high school and latterly Las Vegas, Nevada where he had recently worked as a security guard.
Sources told NBC News that investigators were probing whether he may have been targeting the NFL offices.
Tamura started his rampage in the lobby of the office building where he first exchanged gunfire with the NYPD Officer Islam, according to CNN.
Tamura then proceeded up the the 33rd floor where police received calls of shooting.
‘It appears that he knew it would be his last stand,’ said CNN chief law enforcement analyst John Miller, a former NYPD deputy commissioner.
‘He fully intended to shoot his way through the lobby and make his way to that target – whatever that might have been.’
A photo of the blood-stained weapon used in the massacre was obtained by DailyMail.com.
KPMG, a financial company that has offices in the building, released a statement that said: ‘Our hearts go out to the victims of this horrific act and their families. We are incredibly grateful for the bravery of building security and law enforcement.’
The names of the other victims, along with a man who was seriously wounded and remains in critical condition, have not yet been released.
Some eyewitnesses spoke to reports after racing away from the areas as workers dashed out of the building
‘I just saw a lot of commotion and cops and people screaming,’ said Russ McGee, a 31-year-old sports bettor who was working out in a gym adjacent to the skyscraper, said n an interview near the scene.
Kyle Marshall, 38, was working at a Morgan Stanley office in a nearby Park building when his mother texted him, alerting him to an active-shooter incident, and asked if he was OK.
‘Then she texted me the address, and I was, like, “Oh my God. That’s right next door to my building,”‘ he said.
Police kept Marshall and others inside that property on lockdown until after 8pm, he said.
‘It doesn’t make me feel less safe to be in Manhattan,’ he said. ‘The police responded quickly.’
Mayor Eric Adams said on X that an officer had been ‘struck down’ and expressed his ‘deepest sympathies’ to the family of the officer
Police repeatedly pushed back journalists and members of the public who gathered to see what was happening
Mass shootings are common in the United States, where a constitutional right to bear arms outweighs demands for stricter rules.
There have been 254 mass shootings in the United States this year including Monday’s incident in New York, according to the Gun Violence Archive – which defines a mass shooting as four or more people shot.
Police officers deployed a drone near Park Avenue at the height of the evening rush-hour as dozens of officers swarmed the area, some carrying long guns and others wearing ballistic vests.
The area is home to several five-star business hotels, as well as a number of corporate headquarters. The United Nations headquarters is nearby.