A lone gunman strode into a midtown Manhattan office building spraying bullets on Monday, killing four people and wounding one, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
At a news conference, she disclosed details of the shooting as well as the items police found in the gunman’s black BMW vehicle, which he left double-parked on Park Avenue.
The gunman, whom police identified as Shane Tamura, 27, of Nevada, was found dead, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest, on the 33rd floor of 345 Park Avenue. He killed a woman there after killing three people, including a New York City police officer, in the lobby downstairs.
“Surveillance video shows a male exit a double-parked, black BMW on Park Avenue between 51st and 52nd streets, carrying an M-4 rifle in his right hand,” Tisch said.
He then entered the lobby of the building “spraying it with gunfire” and hitting the NYPD officer before shooting a woman who was trying to take cover.
The shooter then made his way to an elevator and shot a security guard who was taking cover behind a desk and shot and wounded another man in the lobby, the commissioner said.
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The BMW left on Park Avenue was registered in Nevada to Tamura, Tisch said.
“Inside of that vehicle, officers found a rifle case, with rounds, a loaded revolver, ammunition and magazines, a backpack and medication prescribed to Mr. Tamura,” Tisch said.
She did not elaborate on the medication but said, “According to our law enforcement partners in Las Vegas, Mr. Tamura has a documented mental health history.”
Tisch said police bomb squad officers searched the vehicle and found it to be clear of any explosives.
Tamura had apparently driven quickly across the country before his deadly rampage.
“The initial investigation shows that Mr. Tamura’s vehicle traveled across country through Colorado, on July 26, then Nebraska and Iowa on July 27, and then in Columbia, New Jersey, as recently as 4.24 p.m. today,” Tisch said.
“The vehicle entered New York City shortly thereafter,” she added.
“His motives are still under investigation, and we are working to understand why he targeted this particular location,” the commissioner continued.
Police said Tamura had a license to carry a weapon in the state of Nevada.
“All you have to do is show that you are a resident of the state and that you are not a convicted felon or subject of an order of protection or restraining order or domestic violence,” a law enforcement analyst told CNN.
Didarul Islam, 36, was the police officer killed in the shooting. He was an immigrant from Bangladesh and a 3.5-year veteran of the NYPD stationed at the 47th Precinct in the Bronx.
The other victims have yet to be identified.
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