An employee of the National Football League was seriously injured in a Manhattan shooting that targeted the league.
Five people, including an off-duty New York City police officer and the gunman, died in the shooting on Monday, July 28.
The incident took place in the lobby at 345 Park Ave, which is home to the NFL’s offices.
“One of our employees was seriously injured in this attack,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a memo, according to ESPN. “He is currently in the hospital and in stable condition. NFL staff are at the hospital and we are supporting his family. We believe that all of our employees are otherwise safe and accounted for, and the building has nearly been cleared.”
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Goodell, 66, said there would be “increased security presence” at the offices “in the days and weeks to come.”
“Every one of you is a valued member of the NFL family,” Goodell wrote. “We will get through this together.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams told reporters on Tuesday, July 29, that the gunman, identified as Shane Tamura, was attempting to get to the NFL’s offices, but took the wrong elevator.
According to police, Tamura, 27, had a note on his body that seemed to blame the NFL for a claim that he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) after his football playing days in high school.
“He seemed to have blamed the NFL,” Adams. 64, said. “The NFL headquarters was located in the building, and he mistakenly went up the wrong elevator bank.”
According to Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Tamura entered the building with an M4 rifle and killed a police officer working a corporate security detail and a woman who was attempting to take cover.
Tamura then shot a guard at the security desk near the elevator bank and another man in the lobby.
The slain police officer was identified as Didarul Islam, who had worked for the department for three-and-a-half years.
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In his memo to NFL employees, Goodell gave his thanks for Islam’s sacrifice.
“We are deeply grateful to the law enforcement officers who responded to this threat quickly and decisively and to Officer Islam, who gave his life to protect others,” he wrote.
In an interview with NBC News, a former high school classmate of the gunman called him “the biggest goofball in the world” and was shocked to find out he was responsible.
“You never would have thought violence was something you’d associate with him,” said Caleb Clark, Tamura’s former classmate at Granada Hills Charter School in Los Angeles. “Everything he said was a joke.”
