The gunman who killed four people inside a midtown Manhattan office tower died by suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the torso, according to the New York City Medical Examiner.
His four victims — NYPD Officer Didarul Islam, Aland Etienne, Julia Hyman and Wesley Lepatner — died of gunshot wounds as well, the medical examiner’s office said Tuesday night.
The ME has not yet made any determinations regarding a CTE diagnosis for the gunman, Shane Tamura. The office only said that a neuropathology expert will examine his brain “as part of the additional studies for the complete autopsy record.”
CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, can be diagnosed only through autopsy. It’s unclear whether Tamura showed symptoms of CTE.
In a note left at the scene, Tamura said he wondered if CTE was a cause of his mental troubles.
Tamura had two mental health incidents, one in 2022 and one in 2024, according to law enforcement officials in Nevada briefed on the investigation. The specific nature of the incidents was not known, nor was it known if it would have precluded Tamura from legally possessing a firearm.
The medical examiner’s ruling came hours after the NYPD released photos of the guns in Tamura’s possession at the time of the shooting, including the assault rifle he used and a revolver that was found in his car on Park Avenue.
Tamura, a 27-year-old casino worker, sprayed the skyscraper’s lobby with bullets, then shot another person in a 33rd-floor office on Monday before he killed himself, authorities said. The building houses the headquarters of the NFL, and a league employee was badly wounded in the attack.
The attacker’s apparent grievances with the NFL has emerged as a possible motive.
Tamura played high school football in California a decade ago. In a three-page note found on his body, he accused the NFL of concealing the dangers to players’ brains for profit. The degenerative brain disease CTE has been linked to concussions and other repeated head trauma, which is common in contact sports such as football.
Detectives planned to question a man who supplied gun parts for the AR-15-style rifle used in the attack, including the weapon’s lower receiver, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a video statement.
