The father of the gunman who killed four people, including a New York City police officer, is a former Los Angeles Police Department cop, according to a new report.
The Los Angeles Times reported Shane Tamura’s father, Terence, is a former LAPD cop who mostly worked in the San Fernando Valley. He joined the department in 1967, according to the LA Times.
Tobenna Okunna, 28, a football teammate of Tamura at Golden Valley High School, told The Independent: “His dad [was] a cop, his mom was really nice.”
The LAPD is yet to confirm Terence Tamura’s employment, despite public records confirming it.
"The Los Angeles Police Department is aware of the online rumors and media inquiries suggesting a possible connection between the individual involved in the recent New York shooting and our department,” the department told The Independent.
“We take these matters seriously and are actively investigating the information. At this time, we are working to confirm details and gather the facts."
Tamura, a 27-year-old from Las Vegas, entered the Park Avenue skyscraper, which houses the NFL office, on Monday evening carrying an M4 assault rifle. Police in New York say he immediately began “spraying” the lobby of the office building with the high-powered rifle.
He killed off-duty NYPD cop Didarul Islam, 36, whose wife is pregnant with their third child, according to officials.
Tamura fatally shot two others in the lobby and killed a fourth person on the 33rd floor, where he then killed himself with a bullet to the chest, officials said.
A motive for the shooting is still unclear.
Tamura had a “documented mental health history,” according to officials.
He was raised in Santa Clarita, California, where he played football for Golden Valley High School and Granada Hills Charter High School.
In a note discovered by authorities, Tamura claimed he was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease linked to former athletes with repeated head trauma.
“Terry Long football gave me CTE and it caused me to drink a gallon of antifreeze...You can’t go against the NFL, they’ll squash you,” the note reportedly read, in part.
Long was a Pittsburgh Steelers player who died by suicide in 2005 after drinking antifreeze. Officials said CTE contributed to his death.
Okunna told The Independent Tamura took regular blows to the head on the football field.
“It’s hard to convey, but Shane was really fast, and ran really hard, and he was really small. So, all that speed and energy running into these massive people...I do remember Shane taking some big hits,” Okunna said.
