A man carrying a rifle killed four people at a New York City office tower Monday, including an off-duty New York City police officer, and wounded a fifth before taking his own life, officials said.
The Midtown Manhattan skyscraper houses the headquarters of the National Football League and offices of major financial institutions, including Blackstone and KPMG.
Israeli United Nations Ambassador Danny Danon, whose office is blocks away from the site of the shooting, sent condolences to the victims and called the violence “unacceptable.”
Police identified the gunman as Shane Tamura, of Las Vegas, and said he killed himself. He had a “documented mental health history,” but the motive is still unknown, police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference. He was believed to have acted alone.
Preliminary checks of the suspect’s background did not show a significant criminal history, CNN reported.
“We are working to understand why he targeted this particular location,” Tisch said of the site of the shooting, 345 Park Avenue, a commercial office building. The building is in a busy area of midtown, located a short walk north from Manhattan landmarks including Grand Central Terminal and about a block east of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
The officer who was killed was named as Didarul Islam, 36, an immigrant from Bangladesh who had served as a police officer in New York City for three and a half years, Tisch said.
The father of two, whose wife is pregnant with a third child, was working at the time as part of a New York Police Department program that allows its uniformed patrol officers to be assigned as security detail in commercial establishments.
“He was doing the job that we asked him to do. He put himself in harm’s way. He made the ultimate sacrifice,” Tisch said. “He died as he lived. A hero.”
Authorities offered few details about the three other victims killed by the suspect — two men and a woman. A third male was gravely wounded by the gunfire and was “fighting for his life” in a nearby hospital, Mayor Eric Adams said. Four others got minor injuries attempting to flee the scene.
“I salute the NYPD for their brave and decisive actions,” Danon posted to X late Monday night local time. “I pray for the recovery of those injured and send my condolences to the families of the victims. The violence on the streets of New York is unacceptable.”
Adams said officials are still “unraveling” what took place.
Surveillance video showed a man exiting a double-parked BMW during rush hour and carrying an M4 rifle before walking toward the building. Tisch said he immediately opened fire on the NYPD officer as he entered the building, then shot a woman who tried to take cover and began “spraying” the lobby with gunfire.
The man then made his way to the elevator bank and shot a security guard who was taking cover behind a security desk, and shot another man in the lobby, the commissioner said.
The man took the elevator to the 33rd floor, to a real estate management company, and shot and killed one person on the floor. The man then walked down a hallway and shot himself, the commissioner said.
Officers found a rifle case, a revolver, magazines and ammunition in his car, Tisch said.
She said an initial investigation showed his vehicle traveled across the country through Colorado on July 26, then Nebraska and Iowa on July 27. It arrived in Columbia, New Jersey, as recently as 4:24 p.m. local time on Monday. He drove into New York City shortly thereafter, she said.
No one answered the door at the address listed for Tamura in Las Vegas.
The New York City Fire Department said emergency crews were called to the office building around 6:30 p.m. for a report of someone shot.
Jessica Chen told ABC News she was watching a presentation with dozens of other people on the second floor when she “heard multiple shots go off in quick succession from the first floor.”
She and others ran into a conference room and barricaded tables against the door.
“We were honestly really, really scared,” she said, adding that she texted her parents to tell them that she loves them.
Local TV footage showed lines of people evacuating the office building with their hands above their heads.
Some finance workers at an office building down the block were picking up dinner at a corner eatery when they heard a loud noise and saw people running.
“It was like a crowd panic,” said Anna Smith, who joined the workers pouring back into the finance office building. They remained there for about two hours before being told they could leave.
Through late July, New York City is on pace to have its fewest murders and fewest people hurt by gunfire than any year in recent decades.