A gunman killed four people, including an off-duty New York City police officer, and wounded a fifth when he opened fire at a midtown Manhattan office building on Monday evening, before fatally shooting himself.
The suspect was identified as Shane Tamura, a 27-year-old Las Vegas resident.
Tamura is believed to have acted alone, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference. She added that an investigation into a possible motive of the gunman and why he targeted that particular location is under way.
Inside the vehicle he used to travel cross-country to New York City, "officers found a rifle case with rounds, a loaded revolver, ammunition and magazines, a backpack and medication prescribed to Mr Tamura," Tisch said.
Surveillance footage showed the man exiting a BMW just before 6:30 pm local time (0:30 am Tuesday CEST) carrying an M4 assault rifle. He then made his way to a skyscraper located in a busy area of midtown, just a few blocks away from Central Park.
The office building houses some of the country's top financial firms, including the offices of Blackstone and KPMG, the Irish consulate and the National Football League (NFL) headquarters.
It is in the same part of Manhattan where the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare was shot down outside of a hotel in December.
The gunman entered the lobby of the building, where he killed an off-duty NYPD officer working a corporate security and a woman. He also shot another man, as per the victim's statement from the hospital.
The shooter then proceeded to the elevator, where he allowed a woman exiting to walk past him unharmed. Finally, he travelled to the 33rd floor, killing another person, before killing himself.
The officer who was fatally shot was Didarul Islam, a 36-year-old of Bangladeshi background who had served as a police officer in New York City for three and a half years, police Commissioner Tisch confirmed.
“He died as he lived. A hero,” she said, adding that he was married with two children, and his wife is pregnant with their third child.
