NYPD: Horseshoe boss sold NYC gunman his weapon, car

NEW YORK — A man who killed four people at a Manhattan office building bought the rifle he used in the attack and the car he drove across country from his supervisor at Horseshoe Las Vegas, authorities said Wednesday.

Shane Tamura, 27, fatally shot three people in the lobby of the building that houses the National Football League’s headquarters on Monday before taking an elevator to the 33rd floor and killing someone else, then ending his own life, according to police. In a note found on his body, he claimed to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, known as CTE, and accused the NFL of hiding the dangers of brain injures linked to contact sports.

Tamura’s supervisor at the Horseshoe Las Vegas legally bought the AR-15-style rifle he sold to Tamura for $1,400, the New York Police Department said Wednesday. On Tuesday, police mistakenly said the supervisor had supplied only parts of the rifle used in the attack, including the weapon’s lower receiver. Tamura, who played high school football but never played in the NFL, worked in the surveillance department at the casino.

It wasn’t clear if the gun sale was legal. Tamura had a history of mental illness, police said, without going into detail. In September 2023, he was arrested on a misdemeanor trespassing charge at a suburban Las Vegas casino after being told to leave when he became agitated with security and other employees who asked him for his ID. Prosecutors later dismissed the case.

The supervisor who sold Tamura the rifle hasn’t been charged with any crimes, said police. Authorities haven’t released the supervisor’s name, but they said he’s the person Tamura apologized to in the note found in his wallet after he killed himself.

Later Wednesday, CNN, citing a senior law enforcement official, reported that a Las Vegas Crime Stoppers program received a tip from a licensed firearms dealer who said he saw Tamura at a Las Vegas gun show in June. The gun dealer said Tamura bought an aftermarket trigger assembly for an M4 rifle but returned it the next day, saying he needed the money back to buy 500 rounds of .223 ammunition, which is the same type used in the New York shooting.

The official told CNN that Tamura came back the next day with additional funds and repurchased the trigger assembly. Trigger assemblies are used to customize firearms for specific uses, including increasing the rate of fire or increasing long-range accuracy, the network report said.

During a search of Tamura’s studio apartment in Las Vegas, investigators found psychiatric medication and a suicide note in which he said he felt his parents were disappointed in him, and he apologized to his mother, police said. Investigators also found anti-epileptic and anti-inflammatory medications, a tripod, a single rifle round, a box for the revolver found in Tamura’s car in New York, and about 100 9mm rounds for the revolver.

New York City detectives remained in Las Vegas on Wednesday, authorities said. They have a warrant to search his Horseshoe casino locker, and were awaiting warrants to search his phone and laptop. They also planned to speak to his parents, officials said.

Killed in the attack were New York City police officer Didarul Islam, who was guarding the building on a paid security job; unarmed security guard Aland Etienne, who helped control access to the upper floors; Wesley LePatner, a real estate executive at the investment firm Blackstone, which occupies much of the building; and Julia Hyman, an associate at Rudin Management, the company that owns the building and has offices on the 33rd floor. An NFL employee who was badly wounded in the attack is expected to live.