NYC gunman worked surveillance at Strip casino, official confirms

A Las Vegas man who fatally shot four people Monday before taking his own life left a note that detailed “grievances with the NFL” and claimed he suffered from a progressive brain disease sometimes seen in athletes, the New York City police commissioner said Tuesday.

The shooter in the Manhattan office building killings was identified as Shane Tamura, 27, according to New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Investigators say Tamura — a surveillance department employee at Horseshoe Las Vegas — drove across the country in his Nevada-registered BMW into the city Monday afternoon.

The Monday shooting took place at a Park Avenue skyscraper that is home to the headquarters of both the NFL and Blackstone, one of the world’s largest investment firms, as well as other tenants.

In a Tuesday update, Tisch said two groups of NYPD detectives are going to Las Vegas to conduct interviews and execute a search warrant at his house. They also plan to visit where he legally purchased a revolver on June 12 using his Nevada concealed carry permit.

Tisch said Tamura used an AR-15 style assault rifle that he assembled using a lower receiver purchased by an associate. Detectives plan to question the associate and others, she said. On Monday, Tisch described the firearm as an M-4 rifle.

Tamura was scheduled to appear at Horseshoe Las Vegas for an overnight security shift on Sunday but he did not show, Tisch said.

A Nevada private investigator license that was issued in December 2019 and expired in December 2024 belongs to a Shane Devon Tamura, according to a document obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Tamura was in Las Vegas as recently as March, a source told the Review-Journal.

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that law enforcement officials have said Tamura appears to be the son of a former Los Angeles Police Department officer.

Tamura’s car had been detected by license plate readers in Colorado on Saturday and in New Jersey shortly before 4:30 p.m. local time, Tisch said at the Monday night news conference.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tamura was targeting the NFL headquarters. However, according to AP, he took the wrong elevator.

‘Study my brain’

Tamura’s note blamed football and the NFL for his perceived struggle with the neurodegenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). He also requested in it that his brain be studied, police said in their Tuesday update.

“He also writes, ‘Study my brain. I’m sorry,’” Tisch said of the suicide note, adding it mentions a 2013 documentary on CTE and former NFL players who had the disease.

Citing an unnamed law enforcement official, CNN reported that Tamura was placed on a psychiatric hold in 2022 and 2024.

In 2022, the Metropolitan Police Department encountered Tamura on a street, where he displayed behavior that made police believe he could be a threat to himself or others, the official told CNN. Police took him to a hospital where he was put on a psychiatric hold for an unknown period of time, the official said.

A September 2015 video interview with Los Angeles Daily News shows Tamura, then a high school student at Granada Hills Charter High School in Los Angeles. Tamura is interviewed as the team’s “standout running back.”

In a statement released Tuesday, the school confirmed that he was “a former student who attended the 2015 Fall Semester and has had no connection with the school since his withdrawal a decade ago.”

A woman at Tamura’s residence in a gated neighborhood near Desert Shores offered no comment Monday night.

Hospitality officials confirmed Tamura worked on the Strip.

“We can confirm that Shane Devon Tamura was a surveillance department employee at Horseshoe Las Vegas,” a Horseshoe spokesperson said Tuesday. “Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and all those affected by this tragic event. We are cooperating with law enforcement and will not be commenting further.”

Tamura was arrested in September 2023 on suspicion of trespassing at Red Rock Resort, according to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report.

Metro said in a Tuesday post on X that the department was providing “investigative support” to the New York City Police Department. Meanwhile, the New York department is sending investigators to Las Vegas, Adams told CNN.

Voter registration records indicate he was a nonpartisan voter in Clark County.

— If you’re thinking about suicide, or are worried about a friend or loved one, help is available 24/7 by calling or texting the Lifeline network at 988. Live chat is available at 988lifeline.org. Additionally, the Crisis Text Line is a free, national service available 24/7. Text HOME to 741741.

Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ktfutts on X. Review-Journal reporters Katelyn Newburg, Finnegan Belleau and Isaiah Steinberg contributed to this report.