


Monday night’s horrific New York City shooting spree claimed the lives of five people, including the gunman, who apparently killed himself.
“A gunman with a rifle walked into a Midtown Manhattan office building on Monday evening, around 6:30 p.m. Eastern, and shot multiple people, including two New York Police Department (NYPD) officers,” wrote my friend and colleague Sarah Anderson on Monday night. “One of the officers has died, as have at least four civilians. Local authorities say that the number could grow.”
Police identified the gunman as Shane Tamura.
The CCTV footage of Tamura walking around with his rifle is surprisingly crisp. It's remarkably easy to make out some of his features even in the grainy screen capture. Yet that didn’t stop CNN from trying to pin the shooting on a white man.
A clip from CNN around 7:30 p.m. Eastern on Monday features John Miller, the network’s chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, saying, “They know he is a male, possibly white. He's wearing sunglasses. He appears to have a mustache. And that picture has been distributed to every police officer in New York City.”
Every police officer in New York City, as well as every CNN viewer, could see from that picture that Miller’s assessment of “possibly white” is impossible. But CNN’s gonna CNN.
We also know more about Tamura’s possible motives for the shooting spree. The mayor of New York City said that the shooter was looking to target the National Football League (NFL).
“New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that a gunman who killed four people at a Manhattan office building was trying to target the headquarters of the NFL but took the wrong elevator,” ESPN reports. “Investigators believe Shane Tamura was trying to get to the NFL offices after shooting several people in the building's lobby but accidentally entered the wrong set of elevator banks, Adams said in interviews Tuesday.”
Related: Multiple People, Including NYPD Officer, Dead in Midtown Manhattan Shooting
Tamura reportedly carried a three-page note in his pocket asking that doctors study his brain after he died because he believed he had sustained injuries from playing high school football.
“The crazed gunman who killed an NYPD officer and three other people in a Midtown skyscraper on Monday evening was carrying a note in his pocket that expressed grievances with the NFL and claimed he suffered from CTE – a brain injury linked to head trauma,” the New York Post reports.
More from the Post:
He also specifically referred to Terry Long, the former Pittsburgh Steelers player who was diagnosed with CTE after downing antifreeze to kill himself 20 years ago.
“Terry Long, football gave me CTE and it caused me to drink a gallon of antifreeze,” the note stated, according to sources.
It’s a heartbreaking story, and I’m sure we’ll hear more about it as authorities learn more. Pray for the families of the victims.