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 officer who was killed was Didarul Islam, 36, an immigrant from Bangladesh who had served as a police officer in New York City for just over three years, police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference.
“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.”
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, Tisch said.
“We are working to understand why he targeted this particular location,” Tisch said of 345 Park Avenue, a commercial office building whose tenants include the NFL and Rudin Management, as well as finance companies KPMG and Blackstone.
One man was seriously injured and remains in critical condition, Mayor Eric Adams said. Four others got minor injuries attempting to flee the scene.
Adams said officials are still “unraveling” what took place.
A deadly shooting in New York City has left five people dead, including a police officer, three civilians and the shooter, according to authorities. The incident occurred in a high-traffic area, prompting a swift response from law enforcement.
Surveillance video showed a man exit a double-parked BMW while carrying an M4 rifle before walking toward the building. Tisch said he immediately opened fire on the New York Police Department officer as he entered the building and shot a woman who tried to take cover and then 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 shows his vehicle traveled across the country through Colorado on July 26, then Nebraska and Iowa on July 27 and arrived in Columbia, New Jersey, as recently as 4:24 p.m. 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.
New York Mayor Eric Adams provided updates late Monday night after a gunman shot five people in a midtown Manhattan office building, including an NYPD officer.
Islam, the killed officer, leaves behind two young boys, and his wife is pregnant with their third child, Tisch said.
The New York City Fire Department said emergency crews were called to the Park Avenue office building around 6:30 p.m. for a report of someone shot.
Lines of people could be seen 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.
Tisch says she believes two officers were working in different parts of the building as part of a program where companies can hire NYPD officers to provide security.
The building where the shooting happened is in a busy area of midtown, located a short walk north from Grand Central Terminal and about a block east of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
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.
Eric Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Mike Balsamo, Ruth Brown and Jennifer Peltz contributed from New York, Audrey McAvoy from Honolulu, and Ty O’Neil and Rio Yamat from Las Vegas.
