New York shooting: Who is Shane Tamura, the attacker who killed four people before committing suicide?

A 27-year-old man killed four people in a shooting at a New York City apartment building before turning his gun on himself on Monday, July 28. The suspect, who has been identified, was suffering from mental illness.

He "watered the lobby" with bullets. A man opened fire in a downtown New York City building on Monday, July 28, at 6 p.m., or midnight French time. He killed four people, including a police officer, before killing himself by turning his gun on himself, according to the alleged sequence of events presented by the city's mayor and the police. The "lone gunman" was "neutralized," Jessica Tisch, the police chief of the largest city in the United States, told X.

The assailant was seen entering the 345 Park Avenue skyscraper, an office building located in the upscale Midtown Manhattan neighborhood, late in the afternoon. CCTV footage released by several US media outlets, including CNN and the New York Post , shows a mustachioed man walking alone armed with a long M-4 assault rifle in his right hand. Only a pair of dark glasses partially conceals his face. The man opened fire as soon as he entered the building, first shooting the police officer present before peppering the scene with bullets, the New York police chief said. "He was going from one floor to another" in the 44-story building, a witness to the shooting told AFP. The assailant's deadly journey ended on the 33rd floor, where he was found dead, according to the New York Post.

Shortly after the shooting, hundreds of police officers wearing bulletproof vests and equipped with heavy weapons, as well as numerous ambulances, arrived at the scene to intercept the suspect and treat the injured.

Psychiatric history and unknown motives

The suspect was identified as Shane Tamura, a 27-year-old man from Las Vegas who had driven across the country before the shooting in New York, according to the police chief. The Los Angeles casino security guard suffered from mental illness and had " a documented mental health history."

Police found the gun case the assailant was carrying in his Nevada-licensed car, along with cartridges, a loaded revolver and additional ammunition, magazines, a backpack, and medication prescribed to the suspect. Shane Tamura had a Nevada gun license valid until 2027, according to the New York Post.

The man apparently acted alone, according to Jessica Tisch. The motives for his attack are not yet known. Was he targeting one of the companies located in the targeted building, including the NFL, financial giant Blackstone, or consulting and auditing firm KPMG? Or did he attack a random building? "His motives are still under investigation. We're trying to understand why he targeted this specific location," Jessica Tisch said.