A New York Police officer was among four people killed in a shooting at a Manhattan skyscraper that houses the headquarters of the NFL.
The NYPD officer, identified as Didarul Islam by officials, was a father of two, originally from Bangladesh, whose wife was pregnant. He had worked on the force for around three-and-a-half years.
He was working off-hours as a security guard at the time, New York mayor Eric Adams told reporters, describing him as a “true blue hero”.
Authorities offered few details about the three other victims killed by the suspect — two men and one woman.
A third man is “fighting for his life” in hospital after he was gravely injured in the gunfire, the mayor said.
The shooter, believed to be 27-year-old Shane Tamura, walked into the office building with a rifle before spraying bullets in the lobby and upper floor, police said.
His motive for the shooting is yet unclear but he is believed to have acted alone. Police released an image of him.
"Pure evil came to the heart of our city and struck innocent people and one of our police officers who were protecting those people," Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association, said at the press conference.
Pedestrians in the area were sent running for cover, as police and emergency services rushed to the scene, warning of an active shooter.
Tamura had a Las Vegas address and is believed to have travelled “cross-country” to get to New York.
He died of an “apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Mayor Adams confirmed. He is among the six who were shot in total.
Russ McGee, a 31-year-old sports bettor who was working out in a gym adjacent to the skyscraper, said: “I just saw a lot of commotion and cops and people screaming.”
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told a press conference that surveillance footage showed Tamura, leave a double-parked black BMW on Park Avenue between 51st and 52nd street. Carrying an M4 rifle in his right hand, Tisch said he crossed to the entrance of the Park Avenue tower in Midtown Manhattan.
Surveillance video then showed Tamura enter the lobby, "turn right and immediately open fire on an NYPD officer."
Tamura next shot a woman taking cover behind a pillar, "and proceeds through the lobby, spraying it with gunfire," Tisch said, in terse recap of the shooting.
He encountered his next victim as he made his way to the elevator bank, "where he shoots a security guard who was taking cover behind the security desk."
Another male was also shot in the lobby, Tisch said, citing a statement from the victim from the hospital.
Tamura, whom Tisch has been told by Nevada police has a history of mental illness, then summoned an elevator.
When it opened, a woman stepped out and walked past him, unharmed, Tisch said. Tamura then entered the elevator, riding it to the offices of real estate firm Rudin Management on the 33rd floor.
Once there, "he begins to walk the floor, firing rounds as he traveled."
"One person was struck and killed on that floor," Tisch said.
Lastly, Tamura "proceeds down a hallway and shoots himself in the chest."
"In total, we have five innocent victims ... four innocent civilians and our police officer."
Kyle Marshall, 38, was working at a Morgan Stanley office in a nearby Park building when his mother texted him, alerting him to an active-shooter incident, and asked if he was OK.
"Then she texted me the address, and I was, like, 'Oh my God. That's right next door to my building," he said.
Police kept Marshall and others inside that property on lockdown until after 8 pm, he said.
Marshall lives in the San Francisco area but comes to New York about once a month for work.
"It doesn't make me feel less safe to be in Manhattan," he said. "The police responded quickly."
The FBI said agents from its New York field office were also responding to provide support at the scene.
This story is being updated.
