Five dead including gunman in New York office shooting spree

NEW YORK – Four people including a police officer were killed on July 28 after a gunman walked into a skyscraper in central Manhattan and opened fire in broad daylight, officials said.

A fifth victim was in critical condition after being shot, while the gunman apparently took his own life, Mayor Eric Adams told a late-night briefing at a hospital near the scene of the shooting.

The gunman was caught on camera exiting a black BMW carrying an M-4 rifle, then entering the building, immediately opening fire on a police officer before “spraying the lobby” with bullets, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told a press conference.

He then took a lift to the 33rd floor of the building, which is owned by Rudin Management, where he continued his spree before apparently shooting himself.

He was later discovered by officers next to his weapon.

The office tower block at 345 Park Avenue is also home to hedge fund giant Blackstone, auditor KPMG and the National Football League.

Ms Tisch told the briefing that the suspect was believed to have acted alone, but inquiries were ongoing, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation assisting in the investigation.

She identified the shooter as Shane Tamura of Las Vegas and said a revolver, ammunition and magazines were found in his vehicle, along with medication bearing his name.

The man had a history of mental health issues, according to Las Vegas law enforcement – but did appear to possess a valid firearm permit for Nevada, Ms Tisch said.

He drove cross-country from the south-western state in recent days and arrived in New York on July 28, she said.

The incident began at around 6pm when reports of gunfire prompted hundreds of police to swarm a busy office district on the storied Park Avenue, an area popular with tourists and visiting business people.

A worker from a nearby office building wept as she left the area after a local lockdown was lifted, while another described a gunman going floor to floor as staff prepared to leave for the day.

Mayor Adams said the fallen police officer, an immigrant from Bangladesh who was 36 years old, was among the dead.

Two other males and a female died, and another man remained in critical condition, officials said, without giving any preliminary motive for the shootings.

Rush hour

Office worker Shad told AFP that he was packing his things to leave work when a public address announcement warned him and his colleagues to shelter in place.

“Everyone was confused with, like, ‘wait, what’s going on’. And then someone finally realised that it’s online – that someone walked in with a machine gun,” said Mr Sakib.

“He walked right into a building right next door. We saw the photo of him walking through the same area that I walked through to get lunch here.

“You would think it won’t happen to you, and then it does.”

Mass shootings are common in the United States, where a constitutional right to bear arms outweighs demands for stricter rules.

There have been 254 mass shootings in the US in 2025, including the latest incident in Park Avenue, according to the Gun Violence Archive – which defines a mass shooting as four or more people shot.

Police officers deployed a drone near Park Avenue at the height of the evening rush hour as dozens of officers swarmed the area, some carrying long guns and others wearing ballistic vests.

The area is home to several five-star business hotels, as well as a number of corporate headquarters. The United Nations headquarters is nearby.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she had been briefed on the shooting.

The front runner in the race for mayor, Mr Zohran Mamdani, wrote on social media platform X that he was “heartbroken to learn of the horrific shooting in midtown”.

“I am holding the victims, their families and the NYPD officer... in my thoughts,” he added. AFP