Investigators are looking into whether a Las Vegas man who went on a deadly shooting spree in Manhattan Monday was targeting the National Football League after it emerged that the gunman was a former Los Angeles high school football player with a documented mental health history.<\/p>\n
New York Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that the shooter, identified by law enforcement officials as 27-year-old Shane Tamura, appeared to have a grievance with the N.F.L but ended up on the wrong floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe seemed to have blamed the N.F.L.,\u201d the mayor told the WPIX-TV news station. \u201cThe N.F.L. headquarters was located in the building, and he mistakenly went up the wrong elevator bank.\u201d<\/p>\n
Law enforcement officials have said that Tamura marched into a 44-story office tower on Park Avenue that is the headquarters of the N.F.L and investment firm Blackstone, at around 6:25 pm Monday carrying an M4 assault rifle in his right hand. He immediately opened fire in the lobby, shooting first an NYPD officer, then a woman who took cover behind a pillar and a security guard behind the security desk.<\/p>\n
After spraying more gunfire across the lobby, the gunman got into an elevator and went to the 33rd floor, which houses the Rudin Management real estate firm. He then walked around the floor, firing more rounds and shooting and killing another person, before walking down a hallway and fatally shooting himself in the chest. Four people died in the attack along with Tamura.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Tamura has a documented mental health history,\u201d New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday night at a news conference, citing Las Vegas law enforcement. \u201cHis motives are still under investigation, and we are working to understand why he targeted this particular location.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tamura, who was a celebrated varsity high school player at Golden Valley High School in Santa Clarita and Granada Hills Charter School in the San Fernando Valley, had a suicide note in his back pocket alleging that he suffered from CTE, a brain disease linked to head trauma, CNN reported, citing a source with knowledge of the investigation.<\/p>\n
In the short three-page note, he appeared to blame football for his problems, referencing former Pittsburgh Steelers player Terry Long, who died by suicide after drinking antifreeze in 2005, and expressing grievances with the N.F.L.<\/p>\n
\u201cTerry Long football gave me CTE and it caused me to drink a gallon of antifreeze,\u201d the gunman allegedly wrote. \u201cYou can\u2019t go against the NFL, they\u2019ll squash you,\u201d the note said, according to the source.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudy my brain please,\u201d the note added. \u201cTell Rick I\u2019m sorry for everything,\u201d <\/p>\n