The man carrying the rifle killed four people in a New York City office tower, including a New York City police officer, and injured a fifth before taking his own life, officials said.
The murdered officer is a 36-year-old Islam, a Bangladesh immigrant who has been a police officer in New York City for more than three years, police officer Jessica Tish said at a press conference.
“He was doing the work we asked him to do. He harmed himself. He made the ultimate sacrifice,” Tish said. “He died while he lived. Hero.”
Police identified the gunman as Shane Tamra of Las Vegas and said he committed suicide. He has “a record of mental health history,” but his motives are still unknown, Tish said.
“We’re working to understand why he targeted this particular location,” Tisch said of 345 Park Avenue, a commercial office building that includes executives at NFL and Rudin, as well as tenants including financial companies KPMG and Blackstone.
One man was seriously injured and remains in danger, Mayor Eric Adams said. The other four suffered minor injuries trying to escape from the scene.
Adams said officials are still “discovering” what happened.
Five people, including a police officer, three civilians and a shooter, were killed in the fatal shooting in New York City, authorities said. The incident occurred in heavy traffic areas and encouraged law enforcement to respond promptly.
Surveillance video showed the man leaving a double-parked BMW while carrying an M4 rifle before walking towards the building. Tish said he quickly fired at officers at the New York Police Station as he entered the building, shooting a woman who tried to hide before beginning to “spray” the lobby with the shooting.
The man then headed towards the elevator bank and shot a guard hiding behind the guard and shot another man in the lobby, the commissioner said.
The man took the elevator to the 33rd floor and headed to the property management company, where he shot and killed one person on the floor. The man then walked down the hallway and shot himself, the commissioner said.
Officers found a rifle incident, a revolver, a magazine and ammunition in his car, Tish said.
In her initial investigation, she traveled across the country via Colorado on July 26th, and Nebraska and Iowa arrived in Columbia, New Jersey on July 27th. He drove to New York City shortly after, she said.
No one answered the door to the address listed in Tamra, Las Vegas.
New York Mayor Eric Adams provided an update late Monday night after gunmen shot five people in a Midtown Manhattan office building that includes NYPD officials.
Islam, the murdered officer, leaves behind two young boys, and his wife is pregnant with a third child, Tish said.
The New York City Fire Department said emergency crews were called to the Park Avenue office building around 6:30pm to report someone’s shooting.
People’s lines could be seen evacuating office buildings with their hands on their heads.
Some of the financial workers in the office building beneath the block were picking up dinner at a restaurant in the corner when they saw people running after hearing the loud noise.
“It was like a crowd panic,” Anna Smith said. They stayed there for about 2 hours before being told they could leave.
Tish says he believes that the two executives work in different parts of the building as part of a program that allows businesses to hire NYPD executives to provide security.
The building where the shooting took place is located in a busy area of Midtown, about a block east of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, with a walk just north of Grand Central Terminal.
Until late July, New York City has the pace to have the least murder and fewest people in gunfire than any other year in recent decades.
Eric Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press authors Mike Balsamo, Ruth Brown and Jennifer Peltz contributed from New York, from Audrey McAvoy of Honolulu and Ty O’Neill and Rio Yarmat of Las Vegas.
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