The NFL was targeted in Monday’s attack by a gunman at the Manhattan building at which the league’s offices are located, New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) said in broadcast interviews Tuesday.
An NFL employee was “seriously injured” in Monday’s attack, Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a memo overnight.
“As has been widely reported, a gunman committed an unspeakable act of violence in our building at 345 Park Avenue,” Goodell wrote in the memo to league employees, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post. “One of our employees was seriously injured in this attack. He is currently in the hospital and in stable condition.”
Adams said that the shooter, identified by authorities as 27-year-old Shane Tamura of Las Vegas, was targeting the NFL.
“From our preliminary investigation, he took the wrong elevator bank up to the NFL headquarters,” Adams told CBS. “Instead, it took him to Rudin Management. And that is where he carried out additional shootings and took the lives of additional employees.”
Adams said the shooter, who played high school football but did not play in college or in the NFL, wrote in a note that he believed he had the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.
“He did have a note on him,” Adams said. “The note alluded to that he felt he had CTE, a known brain injury for those who participate in contact sports. He appeared to have blamed the NFL for his injury.”
CTE can only be diagnosed definitively after death.
The league did not immediately release the identity of its injured employee. NFL staff members were at the hospital to support the employee’s family, according to Goodell.
“We believe that all of our employees are otherwise safe and accounted for, and the building has nearly been cleared,” Goodell wrote.
Four people were killed, including a New York City police officer, and one seriously injured when the gunman opened fire Monday evening inside the high-rise office building in Midtown Manhattan.
The gunman then fatally shot himself in the chest, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said at a news conference Monday night.
Goodell wrote that the NFL is “deeply grateful to the law enforcement officers who responded to this threat quickly and decisively and to Officer [Didarul] Islam, who gave his life to protect others.”
Those working in the NFL’s New York office should work remotely from home Tuesday, Goodell wrote, adding that it is “understandable if you prefer to take the day off.” He also wrote that there “will be an increased security presence at 345 Park Avenue in the days and weeks to come.”
Goodell told employees that there are grief counselors and other “significant resources” available to them.
“Every one of you is a valued member of the NFL family,” Goodell wrote. “We will get through this together.”
Several NFL employees said they had left the building shortly before the shooter entered just before 6:30 p.m. Monday. One employee who had left about 10 minutes earlier said it is “hard to imagine something like this no matter how many times you read about” similar incidents.
Based on previous visits to the NFL offices, the building at 345 Park Avenue is set back from the street, with a large area in front that includes seating and often draws lunchtime crowds. The lobby has entrances from multiple sides. There is a security desk, generally with multiple security staffers seated there, at which any visitors must stop and be approved to enter. The elevators are located behind or to the left of the security desk, depending upon which entrance is utilized.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic incident that occurred yesterday in New York City,” the NFL Players Association, which is based in Washington, said in a written statement Tuesday. “345 Park Avenue is a part of our football family, and we at the NFLPA extend our sincere condolences and support to the people who work in this building and to the families of those who lost their lives. We also want to express our deep gratitude to the law enforcement and emergency personnel who responded to those impacted.”
