NEED TO KNOW
- Shane Tamura killed four people in a New York office building shooting in July
- Tamura, a former high school football player, had CTE, the New York City medical examiner said
- Before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Tamura had written a note claiming he had CTE
Shane Tamura, the man who killed four people in a mass shooting at a New York City office tower before dying by suicide, had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease that has been linked to football.
Tamura, 27, entered 345 Park Avenue in midtown Manhattan on July 28 with an semi-automatic rifle and killed four people, including an off-duty police officer. The gunman died after shooting himself in the chest — leaving his brain intact for examination.
The building where the shooting took place houses the National Football League’s headquarters. Following the shooting, New York Mayor Eric Adams said Tamura had been trying to reach the league’s offices but took the wrong elevator.
In a note he left behind, Tamura — who played high school football — wrote that he believed he had CTE and criticized the NFL.
On Friday, Sept. 26, the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner released the findings from its neuropathological examination of Tamura’s brain.
“Following a thorough assessment and extensive analysis by our neuropathology experts, OCME has found unambiguous diagnostic evidence of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE, in the brain tissue of the decedent,” the office said in a press release. “The findings correspond with the classification of low-stage CTE, according to current consensus criteria.”
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The office noted that CTE can be found in the brains of deceased people who had “repeated exposure to head trauma.”
CTE can only be diagnosed after someone dies and destroys nerve cells in a person’s brain while they are still alive, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The disease, which has been found in over 90% of deceased NFL players studied, can cause significant behavioral changes.
“Study my brain please,” Tamura wrote in the note. “I’m sorry.”
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