Shane Tamura, who traveled to New York in July and shot and killed four people in the building that housed the NFL headquarters, had “low-stage Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE),” the New York City Medical Examiner’s office found.
Tamura, 27, died by suicide after the shooting at 345 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. In addition to the four people who died, one NFL employee was seriously injured.
On Friday, the medical examiner said that after a “thorough assessment and extensive analysis,” doctors found “unambiguous diagnostic evidence” of CTE.
Tamura left a note explaining that he believed he had CTE, and that he was targeting the NFL’s headquarters because he believed the league did not adequately warn players of the risks of playing football related to brain injuries. In the note, he asked that his brain be studied. CTE cannot be diagnosed while a person is alive.
Tamura played running back at Granada Hills Charter School in Southern California during his senior year. He also reportedly worked as a security guard at a Las Vegas casino; he never played professional football. New York City police commissioner Jessica Tisch said on the night of the shooting that Tamura had a “documented mental health history.”
“You don’t have to have played beyond high school to have CTE,” Dr. Robert Cantu, one of the leading experts on CTE, told Front Office Sports in July. Cantu cofounded Boston University’s CTE Center, served as a founding member of the Concussion Legacy Foundation’s Board, and advises the NFL’s Head, Neck, and Spine Committee. “But your risk substantially goes up if you have played beyond high school.”
In a statement to FOS, an NFL spokesperson said: “We continue to grieve the senseless loss of lives, and our hearts remain with the victims’ families and our dedicated employees. There is no justification for the horrific acts that took place. As the medical examiner notes ‘the science around this condition continues to evolve, and the physical and mental manifestations of CTE remain under study.'”
