Work was winding down at 345 Park Avenue on Monday when a man strode across the public plaza just outside the Midtown Manhattan tower with an assault rifle in his hand.
Within minutes, at least four people were dead, as well as the gunman, in a mass shooting in the epicenter of American finance. The harrowing scene unfolded in the 44-story, dark-glass tower that houses the offices of private equity behemoth Blackstone Inc., consultant KPMG, building landlord Rudin Management and the National Football League.
Shane Tamura, a 27-year-old who last resided in Las Vegas, shot and killed a uniformed police officer in the lobby and made his way to the 33rd story before dying there of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. He was targeting the NFL, but ended up on Rudin’s floor by mistake, according to two senior law enforcement officers.
He had a fixation with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, caused by head trauma, the officers said, citing a manifesto and notes found on him. His social media feed showed his football career ended after a head injury, and he wrote that the NFL didn’t do enough for CTE.
The Monday evening shooting shut down a large stretch of Midtown Manhattan and drove employees at several nearby firms — including hedge fund Citadel and investment bank Jefferies Financial Group Inc. — to go into lockdown. Park Avenue now houses more major financial firms than actual Wall Street, with JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s massive new headquarters a few blocks south of Blackstone’s base.
Videos from inside the tower showed people huddled in cramped rooms, some crying in fear, and workers leaving with their hands in the air as police cleared floors. Blackstone employees described sharing and receiving conflicting information on what was happening, while some scrambled to barricade doors and entry points.
Later on Monday, workers streamed out of 345 Park Avenue to a chaotic scene of flashing police cars. One was crying and embracing another. Meanwhile, Blackstone sent staff a flurry of texts asking them to confirm they were safe.
A Blackstone employee was among those killed, according to a person briefed on the matter. The company is the world’s largest private markets firm, with more than $1.2 trillion in assets under management and roughly 5,000 employees.
One Blackstone employee shared a photo that showed couches piled close to the ceiling as a barricade. Two of the firm’s employees told friends they were hiding in the office pantries, according to people who received the messages. When they got the all-clear sign, some refused to leave spaces where they had barricaded themselves, petrified that they were still in danger.
Blackstone declined to comment while awaiting further details on the status of employees. Rudin, a 100-year old real estate firm that owns major office buildings in the city, had no immediate comment.
An unidentified NFL employee was seriously injured in the shooting, and is currently in the hospital in stable condition, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a message. Security at the building will be beefed up in the days and weeks ahead
