A gunman who killed four people when he stormed a skyscraper in the heart of New York on Monday evening left a note that appeared to blame the National Football League (NFL) for his brain injury, the city’s Mayor Eric Adams has said.
The attacker, 27-year-old Shane Tamura of Las Vegas, shot himself dead after opening fire in a building where the American football league has offices, but ended up in a different part of the building after getting in the wrong lift.
The gunman was carrying a note in which he blamed CTE, a brain disease triggered by head trauma, for his mental illness, Adams said.
Tamura played football as a teenager, ex-teammates have told US media, but did not play in the NFL.
New York City police officer Didarul Islam, 36 – who was working as a security guard at the building – was among those killed. Three more victims are yet to be formally identified.
An NFL employee was also “seriously injured” in the attack, the league’s commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a message to staff.
Asked about a possible motive, Adams told CBS: “[Temura] did have a note on him. The note alluded to that he felt he had CTE, a known brain injury for those who participate in contact sports.
“He appeared to have blamed the NFL for his injury.”
