What we know about the victims of the NYC office building shooting
Four people, including an off-duty New York City police officer, were killed Monday evening when a man armed with a rifle walked into a Manhattan high-rise corporate building and opened fire.
The other victims killed were an executive at the investment management company Blackstone, an employee of the real estate firm Rudin Management, and a security guard.
The shooting occurred around 6:30 p.m. in the lobby of 345 Park Ave. in Midtown. Authorities said security video showed the suspect, Shane Devon Tamura, getting out of a double-parked car carrying an M4 rifle.
He entered the building and immediately opened fire “on an NYPD officer,” New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. He then shot a woman taking cover behind a pillar and fired at others before taking the elevator to the 33rd floor, where he shot and killed another person, according to authorities.
Tamura, a 27-year-old from Nevada who recently drove across the country, then killed himself, authorities said. Tisch said he has a “documented mental health history,” and in his vehicle investigators found a loaded revolver, a rifle case with rounds, ammunition magazines and some prescribed medication.
Investigators are still looking into why Tamura targeted the building. Officials familiar with the investigation told NBC News that he left behind a note insinuating that his mental illness may be linked to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, from having played football. The brain disease is linked to repeated hits to the head.
The NFL is one of the tenants of the building.
Officials, however, noted that it’s still early in the investigation and a motive remains unclear.
Here’s everything we know about the victims.
Wesley LePatner
Blackstone identified one of the slain victims as Wesley LePatner. She joined Blackstone in 2014 after spending over a decade at Goldman Sachs. LePatner, 43, was the senior managing director and also a member of Blackstone real estate’s investment committee, according to the company’s website.
She served on the boards of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the UJA-Federation of New York, Yale University Library Council, and The Abraham Joshua Heschel School, where her son attends the seventh grade.
She was also a member of the advisory board of governors of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts.
The Heschel School described LePatner as “a uniquely brilliant and modest leader and parent, filled with wisdom, empathy, vision and appreciation.”
“There are no right words for this unfathomable moment of pain and loss,” a representative for the school said in a statement Tuesday.
The school said she “made the world — and all of the institutions she touched, including the Heschel School — a better place.”
“We are all diminished today by her absence,” the statement read.
Didarul Islam
Didarul Islam, a 36-year-old immigrant from Bangladesh, was hailed as a hero who “made the ultimate sacrifice.”
“He was doing the job that we asked him to do,” Tisch said at a news conference Monday night. “He put himself in harm’s way.”
Islam had been with the NYPD for nearly four years, assigned to the 47th Precinct in the Bronx. He was working off-duty as a security guard when he was shot.
“He was doing what he does best and all members of the police department carry out,” Mayor Eric Adams said. “He was saving lives. He was protecting New Yorkers.”
Tisch said Islam was the father of two young boys and was expecting a third child with his wife. Adams said he told Islam’s family that “he was a hero, and we admire him for putting his life on the line.”
His cousin said Islam was a “very pious person” who would regularly attend the mosque for worship.
“He is very nice guy, and his behavior is very good,” Muhammad Mainul Islam told NBC New York. “I really miss him.”
Aland Etienne
The 32BJ Service Employees International Union remembered Aland Etienne, 46, as “a dedicated security officer who took his job duties extremely seriously.”
“This tragedy speaks to the sacrifice of security officers who risk their lives every day to keep New Yorkers and our buildings safe,” Manny Pastreich, president of 32BJ SEIU, said in a statement Tuesday.
“Every time a security officer puts on their uniform, they put their lives on the line. Their contributions to our city are essential, though often unappreciated,” he said.
Pastreich called Etienne “a New York hero.”
Rudin Management employee
Rudin Management, the real estate company that owns 345 Park Ave. and is headquartered there, confirmed one of its employees was killed. The employee has not been publicly named.
“The Rudin family and everyone at our company are devastated by yesterday’s senseless tragedy,” the company said in a statement Tuesday. “Our thoughts and prayers are with those injured and lost last night, including our cherished Rudin colleague, a brave New York City police officer, a beloved lobby security guard and an employee at a tenant firm.”
“As New Yorkers, we stand shoulder to shoulder in the face of this hatred, we grieve with the families and loved ones of those lost, and we pray for the full recovery of those injured.”
