NYC Mass Shooter Left Note Blaming NFL For CTE, Intended To Target League HQ

Authorities have confirmed that the gunman responsible for a mass shooting in Manhattan that left four people dead—including an off-duty NYPD officer—originally intended to carry out his attack at the NFL’s headquarters.

Investigators say the shooter, identified as Shane Tamura of Las Vegas, drove cross-country with the purpose of targeting the league due to a personal vendetta tied to brain trauma and the condition known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

Tamura, who had a history of mental illness and played high school football but never advanced to the college or professional level, mistakenly took the wrong elevator in the building that houses the NFL’s Manhattan offices.

Instead, he entered the offices of Rudin Management on the 33rd floor, where he shot and killed real estate executive Wesley LePatner before turning the gun on himself.

Before reaching the upper floors, Tamura opened fire in the building’s lobby after exiting a double-parked BMW with a rifle. Surveillance footage showed him spraying bullets across the entrance, killing a security guard and wounding others.

Off-duty NYPD officer Didarul Islam, who was also in the lobby, was among the four victims. “He appeared to have first walked past the officer, and then he turned to his right, and saw him and discharged several rounds,” Mayor Eric Adams said of the gunman in a TV interview.

Inside Tamura’s wallet, police found a three-page note detailing his motive. The letter included admissions of guilt and expressed a deep resentment toward the NFL, accusing the league of greed and deception.

Tamura believed he had developed CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain condition linked to repeated head trauma in contact sports.

The note alleged the NFL “deliberately hidden the potential prolonged effects that playing football can have on the brain.” It cited former NFL player Terry Long, who died by suicide and was later diagnosed with CTE.

According to the police department, the letter also requested that Tamura’s brain be studied for CTE after his death.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell condemned the violence, stating, “an unspeakable act of violence in our building.” Former President Donald Trump also weighed in on social media.

“I trust our Law Enforcement Agencies to get to the bottom of why this crazed lunatic committed such a senseless act of violence. My heart is with the families of the four people who were killed, including the NYPD Officer, who made the ultimate sacrifice.”

Blackstone, which has offices in the same building, confirmed that LePatner, one of their employees, was among those killed. “Words cannot express the devastation we feel,” the company said in a statement.

The shooting has shaken the city and sparked renewed scrutiny around mental illness, gun access, and lingering concerns surrounding head trauma in contact sports.