NFL HQ Shooter Had Low-Stage CTE

On July 28, 27-year-old Shane Devon Tamura drove from Las Vegas to 345 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, entered the building that houses the NFL’s headquarters with an AR-15–style rifle, killed four people — including off‑duty NYPD Officer Didarul Islam, Wesley LePatner, Julia Hyman and Aland Etienne — and died of a self‑inflicted gunshot. The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said neuropathological analysis confirmed "unambiguous diagnostic evidence" of low-stage chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in Tamura’s brain after testing requested in a three-page note found on his body in which he blamed football and the NFL and asked that his brain be studied. The OCME and outside pathologists stressed that CTE can only be diagnosed after death and did not conclude the condition caused the shooting, noting that the science linking CTE to specific behaviors remains evolving. Reporting documents that Tamura played youth and high-school football and had a history of mental-health problems, chronic headaches, treatments and prior wellness checks, according to investigators and family members. The diagnosis answers Tamura’s request to "study my brain" and has renewed public and legal debates about athlete brain injuries, CTE and the complex causes of mass violence.