Shooter Left Suicide Note Blaming NFL and CTE for Midtown Massacre

More chilling details have emerged following Monday’s tragic shooting at 345 Park Avenue, and the story just took a turn that links football, mental health, and mass violence.

Police have identified Shane Devon Tamura, 27, as the gunman who opened fire inside the Midtown Manhattan office tower, killing four people—including a New York City police officer—and injuring one other before taking his own life.

But it’s what he left behind that has everyone talking.

Authorities recovered a multi-page suicide note written by Tamura, where he blamed the NFL and CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) for his deteriorating mental health. The letter revealed Tamura believed repeated hits to the head during his high school football days left him mentally unstable. He even requested that doctors study his brain after his death, citing other tragic cases like former NFL player Terry Long, who also died by suicide after battling CTE symptoms.

Sources say Tamura didn’t randomly target 345 Park Avenue. The building houses major companies, including the NFL headquarters, though he never made it to that floor. Instead, he entered the lobby with a high-powered rifle and immediately opened fire, killing NYPD Officer Didarul Islam, a female office worker, and a security guard. He then took an elevator to the 33rd floor, killed a fourth person, and died by suicide.

An NFL employee who was shot survived but remains in critical condition.

Tamura, originally from Las Vegas, had a Nevada-issued concealed carry permit and traveled cross-country just days before the attack. Police found body armor, ammunition, and prescribed medications in his parked car.

Officials stressed Tamura acted alone, and there’s no ongoing threat to the city. But the note—blaming pro football and linking CTE to mental collapse—has sparked new concerns around how brain trauma in athletes is handled.

As the investigation continues, the city mourns the lives lost in a tragedy that now stretches far beyond Midtown, with implications that hit America’s biggest sports league square in the chest.