The most accurate coverage of the deadly mass shooting targeting the NFL’s New York headquarters came from local and national news media plugged directly into the NYPD, FBI, and Mayor Eric Adams’s office. But there was another important source of news during Monday’s chaotic events: NFL insiders.
Despite being scattered across the country at training camps, insiders such as Dianna Russini of The Athletic, Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington of ESPN, former ESPNer Josina Anderson, and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network provided important news and context. Given their contacts inside the NFL, they were some of the few reporters able to reach people at the scene of the deadly rampage at 345 Park Avenue that left four dead and multiple wounded in midtown Manhattan.
Citing a high-ranking source inside the league, Russini reported the heroic story of NFL employee Craig Clementi, who was shot in the back as he exited NFL HQ.
“There is a belief that the bullet may have ricocheted before hitting him. Remarkably, the man, who had recently welcomed a new baby, was on the phone with other NFL employees at the time, warning them to stay safe and evacuate the building. He continued to make calls even while he was taken to the hospital by ambulance and Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a memo to league employees that their colleague is in stable condition,” Russini wrote on X/Twitter.
Meanwhile, some of the first reports I saw of the NFL telling employees to “shelter in place” Monday night came from Darlington and Anderson.
As Darlington tweeted Monday night: “An NFL security alert sent to employees: ‘Do not exit the building. Secure your location and hide until law enforcement clears your floor. Please switch phones to silent.’”
Anderson zeroed in on the implications moving forward, tweeting: “I just spoke to an #NFL league official who told me they walked out the front of the building 30min before the gunman entered the lobby. I anticipate discussion further evaluating security needs outside of 345 park Avenue vs inside.”
Schefter, ESPN’s top NFL insider, shared a memo from commissioner Roger Goodell, updating Clementi’s condition in the hospital and promising an “increased security presence at 345 Park Avenue in the days and weeks to come.” Same for the NFL Network’s Rapoport.
During a Tuesday morning appearance on Good Day New York, Adams said the shooter—identified as Shane Tamura of Las Vegas—intended to go to the NFL offices but “appeared to have gone to the wrong floor.” Tamura died by suicide on the 33rd floor.
NFL insiders reported accurately and responsibly from a distance on a tragic, difficult story, one far removed from their usual beat. FOS reporter Amanda Christovich was on the scene of the shooting throughout the evening. You can read her latest story here.
