The man who unleashed chaos inside a Midtown Manhattan office tower on Monday afternoon has been identified as Shane Tamura, a 27-year-old licensed private investigator from Las Vegas who once dreamed of a life in football.
Authorities say Tamura arrived in Manhattan by car on Monday, parked around the corner and walked into 345 Park Avenue in the heart of Midtown Manhattan with a concealed weapon permit issued by the Las Vegas Sheriff’s Department.
Tamura headed straight into the building, strolling across a wide city plaza with his rifle in plain sight.
What followed was a terrifying and targeted shooting spree that killed five. Police believe was the shooting was premeditated and likely suicidal.
‘It appears that he knew it would be his last stand,’ said CNN chief law enforcement analyst John Miller, a former NYPD deputy commissioner.
‘He fully intended to shoot his way through the lobby and make his way to that target – whatever that might have been.’
The building, home to major corporate tenants including the NFL’s headquarters, became the scene of a frantic lockdown as gunshots echoed through the corridors and heavily armed police teams swarmed the floors.
While the league’s offices are housed in the tower, sources confirmed Tamura was not on the NFL floor.
Nevertheless, investigators are looking into into whether he was targeting the NFL offices based at that building.
The man who unleashed chaos inside a Midtown Manhattan office tower on Monday has been identified as Shane Tamura, 27
Tamura had once been a promising football player in junior varsity, obsessed with the game and once on a path suggesting a future defined by discipline and teamwork. Pictured in 2015
Photos posted online showed the gunman wearing a sport coat and button-down shirt while carrying the large rifle near a midtown Manhattan office building
Officials say he had no criminal background but his past raises haunting questions.
Tamura grew up in Hawaii, where he attended high school and was immersed in a life dominated by sports.
He was a promising football player in junior varsity, obsessed with the game and once on a path that suggested a future defined by discipline and teamwork.
In a video posted online from the 2015 season, Tamura can be heard giving a post-game interview in which he spoke of his victory with the Granada Hills football team based in Southern California.
Shane was instrumental in his teams victory after scoring several touchdowns.
‘We were down 10-0, stayed disciplined and came together as a team. Couple of touchdowns,’ he said on the day of his interview.
But in the years after he left the field, Tamura’s life became murkier.
He eventually relocated to Las Vegas, where he earned a private investigator’s license and obtained a concealed carry permit to carry firearms, both legally granted through Nevada’s Sheriff’s Department.
Tamura walked into 345 Park Avenue in the heart of Midtown Manhattan with a concealed weapons permit issued in June 2022 by the Las Vegas Sheriff’s Department
The bloodied rifle used was found lying on the carpet of the office where Tamura ended up killing himself
A New York police investigator exits her vehicle at the scene outside a Manhattan office building where two people were shot including a police officer in New York
New York State Police troopers were seen responding to the scene at 365 Park Avenue
The latter part of Tamura’s life is largely invisible to the public.
Investigators in both Nevada and New York are now urgently combing through his car, phone, and computer in search of answers to try and work out what stressors or perceived injustices led him to carry out Monday’s deadly shooting.
‘Police want to know what brought him to that building, who or what the target was, and what the grievance or motive behind it might have been,’ Miller explained.
‘These cases often involve people who experience a downfall and begin to blame others – bosses, institutions, society at large.
‘Then they decide to get even with everybody, even though in most cases, the problem is usually them,’ Miller said.
Investigators are also poring over Tamura’s social media footprint, hoping it might offer clues – manifestos, threats, cryptic posts, or grievances that might have foreshadowed his violent act.
As of now, police have not said whether Tamura had any personal or professional connection to the building or its tenants, but they are leaving no stone unturned.
Authorities say there’s no immediate evidence of any accomplices, but they are working methodically to verify that no other individual helped plan or facilitate his movements across state lines or into the high-security office tower.
The New York Police Department told the public to avoid the area of East 52 Street between Park Avenue and Lexington Avenue
Miller emphasized that shooters like Tamura often spiral quietly, building a world of resentment that no one sees until it erupts in tragedy.
‘They blame their problems on other people and entities,’ he said. ‘Then they decide to get even – with the world, with everyone – even though the problem usually begins and ends with themselves.’
No motive has yet been officially released, but the scene suggests Tamura had a plan that ended with his own death.
The shooting caused widespread chaos in Midtown. Workers from nearby finance firms spilled into the streets, hands raised above their heads as NYPD officers locked down the building and initiated a floor-by-floor search.
Nearby worker Anna Smith, who had just stepped out to grab dinner, described the moment panic took over. “It was like a crowd panic,” she said. “People just started running. We had no idea what was going on.”
For roughly two hours, office workers were locked inside surrounding buildings as SWAT teams secured the area.
The city’s emergency management system issued alerts about road closures, subway disruptions, and traffic delays around Grand Central Terminal and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, both just blocks from the shooting scene.
