A Park Ave. building where a rampaging gunman killed four people, including an NYPD officer on a paid security detail, didn’t have a single security measure to prevent the rifle-toting attacker from getting inside, a lawsuit filed by the slain officer’s widow alleges.
Officer Didarul Islam was apparently the first line of defense inside 345 Park Ave. when the shooter, Shane Tamura, walked up to the 44-story skyscraper on July 28 with an assault rifle clearly visible in his hand, contends the lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court this week.
“Not a single security measure — physical barriers, weapon detection systems, cameras, or human surveillance — deterred, detected, disrupted or delayed the gunman’s unimpeded path from the street, up steps and across the plaza to the lobby doors,” the lawsuit alleges.
Even after shooting Islam — who was in his NYPD uniform working a paid security detail — and killing two more people in the lobby, security guard Aland Etienne and Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner, Temura was able to get into an elevator that took him to the 33rd floor, where he killed a fourth victim, Julia Hyman.
Barry Williams/New York Daily News
A bullet hole is seen in the window of 345 Park Ave. on Tuesday, July 29, 2025 in Manhattan, after gunman Shane Tamura (inset) fired over 50 shots, killing an NYPD officer and three civilians. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News)
“There are plenty of advanced technological defenses that this fancy building did not use. It’s shocking to me, frankly,” said Elizabeth Eilender, who’s representing Islam’s widow, Jamila Akhter. “Especially in mass shootings, seconds count. Every second. (Officer Islam) was shot in the back. There was no alarm, no notice, no nothing. He could have at least turned around and seen what there was to see. It was really shocking.”
The building, which is big enough to have its own ZIP code, could have used a number of measures but didn’t, the lawsuit alleges — including an AI-powered camera system to detect firearms, a mass notification system, a gunshot detection system that sends out alerts, automatic control systems to lock down the building, panic buttons, physical barriers, active shooter drills and threat analysis strategies.
“He took the elevator up like a food delivery guy and shot and killed Julia,” Eiliender told the Daily News. “I think it was an overall colossal security failure at this building, and there’s plenty of blame to go around.”
Footage obtained by the Daily News shows Shane Tamura carrying an assault rifle before entering 345 Park Ave. in Manhattan on Monday, July 28, 2025. (Obtained by Daily News)
Akhter is suing Rudin Management, which owns and operates the building, as well as security firm McLane Security and the NFL.
“The risk of football players who suffer from debilitating brain trauma targeting the NFL for revenge directly increased the risk for the building’s occupants, one of which is the NFL headquarters, that a mass shooting was not a matter of ‘if,’ but ‘when,’” the lawsuit reads.
The NFL headquarters is located on four floors inside the building and police believe Tamura, who also had a history of mental illness, was targeting the organization because he suffered from the degenerative brain disease known as CTE, which has been linked to football head injuries. Tamura, a standout high school football player in California, never played professional football.
“CTE. Study my brain please,” Tamura wrote in a suicide note. “The league knowingly concealed the dangers to our brains to maximize profits. They failed us.”
Barry Williams/New York Daily News
NYPD and other law enforcement officers are pictured on Park Ave. in Manhattan near the scene of an active shooter situation on Monday, July 28, 2025. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News)
When asked to comment on the lawsuit, the NFL’s public relations office said in a statement, “Our hearts remain with the victims’ families and we continue to be grateful to the law enforcement officers who bravely responded, including Officer Islam, who gave his life to protect others.”
Rudin declined to comment, and McLane did not return a message seeking comment.