NEW YORK – New details continued to be released after 27-year-old Shane Tamura went on a shooting rampage inside a Manhattan high-rise, killing four people on Monday.
What we know:
New photos provided to FOX 5 NY by police sources show the inside of the BMW driven by Tamura from Las Vegas, Nevada, to New York City, where it was double-parked along Park Avenue.
Two of the photos appear to show a cardboard box full of ammunition and magazines on a seat in the back of the vehicle, along with several bags piled in the passenger seat.
An uncapped prescription bottle can be seen in the middle console of the vehicle. Law enforcement sources tell FOX 5 NY that at least two types of medications were retrieved from inside the car: Zoloft generic, used to treat depression, panic disorder and other illnesses, and Divalproex, which can be used to treat conditions that include bipolar disorder and epilepsy.
A third photo shows the blood-stained M4-style assault rifle used by the gunman. He was seen walking into 345 Park Avenue holding the weapon just moments before opening fire.
Dig deeper:
Investigators are working to determine what led Tamura to shoot and kill four people, including a New York City police officer, and wounding a fifth victim, before taking his own life.
After the shooting, investigators found a handwritten suicide note in his wallet referencing chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a brain disease linked to repeated head trauma often found in football players.
“Study my brain, please. I’m sorry,” the note read.
The note, which FOX 5 NY’s Linda Schmidt obtained from a law enforcement source, also mentioned NFL players who had been diagnosed with CTE and died by suicide.
The NYPD says Tamura acted alone, but they will question a man they say supplied the parts necessary to assemble the gun.
Timeline:
Tamura began his deadly journey on Friday, July 25, driving his black BMW east from Las Vegas. Over the next three days, his car was tracked through Colorado, Nebraska, and Iowa, reaching Columbia, New Jersey by the afternoon of Monday, July 28.
Around 6:28 p.m., Tamura double-parked his car along Park Avenue and exited with an M4-style assault rifle. Surveillance footage captured him entering the building and immediately shooting NYPD Officer Islam, who was working as a security detail in the lobby. He then shot a nearby woman before heading into the elevator.
Tamura proceeded to multiple floors, killing a total of four victims, three civilians and Officer Islam, and critically injuring a fifth, believed to be an NFL employee. He ultimately took the elevator to the 33rd floor, where he shot and killed another person before turning the gun on himself.
Although the office building houses NFL offices, officials believe Tamura may have gone to the wrong floor.
NYPD Commissioner Tisch explained that the building has multiple elevator banks, and surveillance video shows Tamura entering one that does not reach the NFL’s offices. Instead, he arrived at the offices of Rudin Management, where he opened fire.
The Source: Information from this article was provided by police sources and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Reporting was provided by FOX 5 NY’s Linda Schmidt.
