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Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
A New York City police officer and three others have been killed after a gunman entered a Midtown Manhattan office building and opened fire, according to officials.
The gunman was identified as Shane Tamura, a 27-year-old from Las Vegas, during a Monday night press conference. Besides the four victims who had died, there was one man who had been shot and is in critical but stable condition. There were also four others with minor injuries sustained when they tried to flee the building.
Tamura opened fire inside a Manhattan skyscraper that’s home to the offices of the NFL and asset manager Blackstone on Monday at around 6:30 p.m. local time, according to officials.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Tamura exited a black BMW and walked toward the building’s entrance carrying an M4 assault rifle. A loaded revolver, ammunition and magazines were found in the BMW.
Law enforcement shared with CNN a photo of the man they believe to be the gunman walking into the Midtown building, according to its sources. The man appears to be wearing dark sunglasses and a dark-colored jacket.
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Tamura entered the skyscraper’s lobby and immediately opened fire on an NYPD officer, who officials identified as Didarul Islam, 36.
“He then shoots a woman who took cover behind a pillar and proceeds through the lobby, spraying it with gunfire,” Tisch said.
The police commissioner said Islam had two young boys, and his wife is pregnant with their third child.
The gunman also shot a security guard who was taking cover behind a desk near the elevator bank, according to officials. Another man reported being shot in the lobby in a statement he gave to a hospital.
Tamura allowed a woman who was getting off an elevator to walk past him unharmed, and then he made his way up to the 33rd floor, officials said.
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The gunman “begins to walk the floor, firing rounds as he traveled. One person was struck and killed on that floor. He then proceeds down a hallway and shoots himself in the chest,” Tisch said.
Tisch said Tamura’s car “traveled cross country through Colorado on July 26th, then Nebraska and Iowa on July 27th, and then in Columbia, New Jersey as recently as 4:24 PM today.”
Las Vegas law enforcement said Tamura has a “documented mental health history,” Tisch said, adding that his motives are still unclear. Officials said medication prescribed to Tamura was also found in his car, but they did not name the medication.
The officer who was shot and killed was an off-duty policeman working security in the building, according to multiple outlets. He died at Weill Cornell Medical Center, per WABC.
Tisch said of Islam, a Bangladeshi immigrant, “He was doing the job that we asked him to do. He put himself in harm’s way. He made the ultimate sacrifice. Shot in cold blood, wearing a uniform that stood for the promise that he made to this city. He died as he lived, a hero.”
“ No words can describe this act of evil: a man who takes the life of others who are innocent. And no words can fill the void that has been left by this tragedy,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at the press conference.
The Independent has contacted the NYPD, the New York City Mayor’s office, the New York Governor’s office and the New York City Fire Department for more information.
A witness to the shooting, Jessica Chen, told ABC News she was on the second floor with about 150 people when they heard “multiple shots go off in quick succession from the first floor.”
She ran into a conference room with others, and they barricaded the door.
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“A lot of us were young, a lot of us went through training in elementary school of what to do in an active shooter situation. We were all, unfortunately, prepared,” Chen said.
Large numbers of police were seen forming a perimeter around the building at 345 Park Avenue, and officers also entered the office tower. The FBI assisted with the response to the shooting.
By around 7 p.m. local time, people were seen walking out of the building in small groups with their hands raised. Employees working in the building wrote on Microsoft Teams they had locked themselves in their offices and hid from the gunman.
New York City subways were temporarily skipping the Lexington Avenue / 53rd Street station in both directions as law enforcement continued its operation.
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New York officials condemned the shooting.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X: “Thank you to our brave first responders on the scene in Manhattan tonight. I’m praying for everyone affected. We must do more to stop gun violence in America.”
“Deeply disturbed by the horrific shooting in Midtown Manhattan,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York wrote on X. “Praying hard for the brave NYPD officer impacted and all other victims of this tragedy. May God watch over our city during this challenging moment.”
“Horrified by the shooting in Midtown,” added former New York governor and New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo. “I’m grateful for the courage of our NYPD and first responders, and my prayers are with the victims and their families.”
“I’m heartbroken to learn of the horrific shooting in Midtown and I am holding the victims, their families, and the NYPD officer in critical condition in my thoughts,” wrote fellow mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. “Grateful for all of our first responders on the ground.”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information.
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