The NFL is recommending teams beef up their security following the deadly shooting at league headquarters last month.
The memo listed three recommended changes: making updated threat assessments at facilities, employing armed officers when players or staff are around, and implementing weapons screening, already in place on game days. The recommendations will be reviewed at a special league meeting on August 26.
On July 28, 27-year-old Shane Tamura entered the lobby of 345 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan and opened fire, killing three people including a security guard and off-duty police officer and injuring one NFL employee, according to the New York authorities. The shooter, who believed he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) from playing football, was targeting the NFL’s headquarters on the lower floors of the building. But he got in the wrong elevator and ascended to the 33rd floor, where he killed another woman and then himself.
“The Committee recognizes that these changes will affect day-to-day operations and require an investment of time, coordination, and resources,” said the league’s email to its team owners. “However, there is no higher priority than the safety and security of our players, coaches, staff, and everyone who works in and around our facilities.”
The NFL closed its headquarters in the aftermath of the shooting. The day after the incident, entrances to the building were barricaded and guarded. Commissioner Roger Goodell initially said the office would be closed at least through August 8.
Tamura, who played football in high school, blamed the NFL for his brain condition. “The league knowingly concealed the dangers to our brains to maximize profits,” he wrote. “They failed us.” He also said he was “sorry” and asked that researchers “Study my brain please.” CTE cannot be diagnosed until after death, and New York City’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner said it will study whether Tamura had CTE.
