Shane Tamura 'went up the wrong elevator bank' in attempt to target NFL offices in mass shooting

New York City gunman Shane Tamura, 27, who drove across the country from Las Vegas, was intending to target the NFL. On Monday evening, Tamura entered the building, armed with a rifle, with the intention of shooting up the NFL offices on the 5th floor, but he got on the wrong elevator and traveled to the 33rd, where he took his own life in the offices of a real estate company.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said, "He seemed to have blamed the NFL. The NFL headquarters was located in the building, and he mistakenly went up the wrong elevator bank."

Adams further said that Tamura believed he was suffering from CTE due to his playing in the NFL, but he never played in the NFL. Police have said that Tamura suffered from previous issues with mental illness.

Many skyscrapers in New York City have different elevator banks, with express elevators for the upper floors. 

Tamura was found with a suicide note in his back pocket after he shot and killed four people, including NYPD Officer Didarul Islam, a Bangladeshi immigrant who had been on the force for four years. The note referenced his concern that, after a high school football career, he was suffering from CTE, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.

That note spoke with praise about a documentary from Frontline about what he called the "League of Denial," a reference to a book by ESPN reporters claiming that the NFL has not done enough to deal with CTE. Former NFL player Junior Seau took his own life in 2012, leaving a note behind that he wanted his brain examined for the neurodegenerative condition.

Tamura referenced Terry Long, a former Pittsburgh Steelers player who killed himself by drinking antifreeze in 2005. "Terry Long, football gave me CTE and it caused me to drink a gallon of antifreeze," Tamura's note allegedly said.

"You can't go against the NFL, they'll squash you," he wrote.

CTE has been of concern to football players and fans, as well as for young men coming up in the sport. Repeated concussions, as well as the repeated force of one's brain slamming against one's skull when being hit during game play, can lead to this condition.

"We’re still going through the suicide note to zero in on the exact reason but at this time it appears as if it’s something attached to his belief he experienced CTE from the NFL," said Adams.