Horseshoe supervisor legally sold assault rifle to NYC gunman, lawyer says

An attorney representing the man who sold Shane Tamura the assault rifle used in a shooting spree that killed four people in Manhattan said the sale was legal.

“Rick Ackley legally sold a firearm to the suspect in the New York shooting and is not a suspect or considered to have any nefarious involvement,” the statement from defense lawyer Chris Rasmussen said. “Mr. Ackley obviously is heartbroken by this tragedy and will move forward with his life and asks for privacy in this difficult moment.”

Rasmussen said the sale took place 10 months ago. He added that Ackley “did everything right. The transfer was through a federal firearms licensee, and it was all lawful.”

The attorney declined to give Ackley’s job title, but said that he did not expect Ackley to be charged. LinkedIn lists a Rick Ackley as a “Surveillance Supervisor at Bally’s Casino,” which is now Horseshoe Las Vegas.

“Charges have been investigated, and as far as I know they’ve cleared him,” Rasmussen said and declined further comment.

New York police have said the supervisor was cooperating with investigators.

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch identified Tamura, 27, a surveillance department employee at the Horseshoe, as the gunman, saying he drove across the country in his Nevada-registered BMW into the city late Monday afternoon.

Tamura had been scheduled to for an overnight security shift at Horseshoe on Sunday but he did not show, Tisch said.

Since 2020, all gun purchases in Nevada require the seller to conduct a background check on the buyer. If two private citizens want to exchange or sell guns between themselves, they still need to use a vendor with a federal firearms license, said local defense attorney Josh Tomsheck.

Private sellers will typically fill out a federal form at a gun store that holds a federal firearms license, and the gun store will submit the information for a background check, which uses state and federal databases, said Tomsheck, a former prosecutor assigned to the Clark County district attorney’s office’s gun crimes section.

“So if he in fact sold a firearm to the buyer and went to a federal firearms licensee and did that transfer, he did it totally appropriately,” Tomsheck said.

The background check could reveal reasons the buyer is prohibited from purchasing a gun, including being a felon or having a prior court-order involuntarily committing them to a mental health facility.

A report from Nevada’s Criminal History Repository, obtained by the Review-Journal, showed no information that would have prevented Tamura from purchasing a gun.

ABC News, citing unidentified law enforcement sources, has reported Tamura was placed on two “mental health crisis holds” in Nevada. Experts told the Review-Journal that emergency mental health crisis holds, also known as a “Legal 2000 hold,” are not reported to the Criminal History Repository and would not affect someone’s ability to purchase a gun, because they do not involve a court order.

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.

The victims of the shooting include NYPD officer Didarul Islam, Blackstone investment firm executive Wesley LePatner, security officer Aland Etienne and real estate firm worker Julia Hyman.

Tamura purchased an AR-15-style rifle used in the shooting from his supervisor at the Horseshoe Casino for $1,400, police have said. The sale took place Oct. 2, according to Rasmussen.

In a note, Tamura blamed football and the NFL for his perceived struggle with the neurodegenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. He also requested in it that his brain be studied, police said.

Tamura bought a black BMW from the supervisor which he used to drive from Nevada to New York. Rasmussen said he did not know when the vehicle was sold.

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.

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

Tisch said two groups of NYPD detectives traveled to Las Vegas to conduct interviews and execute a search warrant at Tamura’s house.

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com. Review-Journal staff writer Katelyn Newberg contributed to this report.