A Las Vegas man with a documented history of mental illness opened fire in the lobby of a New York City skyscraper on Monday, July 28. He killed 4 people before turning the gun on himself, according to reports.
Police say the gunman drove from his home in Las Vegas in his black BMW to commit mass murder.
It is believed the gunman was trying to target the NFL’s New York City headquarters on the 5th floor, but he got off the elevator on the wrong floor.
Blackrock employees barricaded the office doors with furniture. Other office workers hurried out of the building with their hands in the air.
Chilling surveillance video captured the shooter walking toward the lobby entrance of the Manhattan skyscraper at 345 Park Avenue. He was carrying a high capacity, semi-automatic rifle equipped with a silencer.
The 27-year-old man killed three people in the lobby, including NYPD officer Didarul Islam, 36, and an unnamed security guard who tried to hide behind a desk. Also killed in the lobby was Wesley LePatner, a 43 year-old senior director at Blackstone.
Police say the gunman took an elevator and got off on the wrong floor instead of the 5th floor where the NFL headquarters was located.
He rode the elevator to building management firm Rudin’s 33rd floor offices.
There he shot and killed Julia Hyman, 27, a Rudin employee who graduated from Cornell in 2020.
Police said the shooter turned the gun on himself. He left behind a suicide note that claimed he suffered from a football-related brain injury, CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy).
“Terry Long football gave me CTE and it caused me to drink a gallon of antifreeze,” he wrote, according to CNN. “You can’t go against the NFL, they’ll squash you. Study my brain please I’m sorry tell Rick I’m sorry for everything,” the note read.
The suicide note referenced former Pittsburgh Steeler Terry Long, who committed suicide by drinking antifreeze in 2006. He was diagnosed with CTE after his death.
FYI: Sandrarose.com does not name mass shooters.
