Las Vegas casino supervisor sold gunman the rifle used in deadly NYC attack, police say

NEW YORK (AP) — A man who killed four people at a Manhattan office building bought the rifle he used in the attack and the car he drove across country from his supervisor at a Las Vegas casino, authorities said Wednesday.

Shane Tamura, 27, fatally shot three people in the lobby of the building that houses the National Football League’s headquarters on Monday before taking an elevator to the 33rd floor and killing someone else before ending his own life, according to police. In a note found on his body, he claimed to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, known at CTE, and accused the NFL of hiding the dangers of brain injures linked to contact sports.

Tamura’s supervisor at the Horseshoe Las Vegas legally bought the AR-15-style rifle he sold to Tamura for $1,400, the New York Police Department said Wednesday. On Tuesday, police mistakenly said the supervisor had supplied only parts of the rifle used in the attack, including the weapon’s lower receiver. Tamura, who played high school football but never played in the NFL, worked in the surveillance department at the casino.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the gun sale was legal. Tamura had a history of mental illness, police said, without going into detail. In September 2023, he was arrested on a misdemeanor trespassing charge at a suburban Las Vegas casino after being told to leave when he became agitated with security and other employees who asked him for his ID. Prosecutors later dismissed the case.

The supervisor who sold Tamura the rifle hasn’t been charged with any crimes, said police. Authorities haven’t released the supervisor’s name, but they said he’s the person Tamura apologized to in the note found in Tamura’s wallet after he killed himself.

During a search of Tamura’s studio apartment in Las Vegas, investigators found psychiatric medication and a suicide note in which he said he felt his parents were disappointed in him and apologized to his mother, police said. Investigators also found anti-epileptic and anti-inflammatory medications, a tripod, a single rifle round, a box for the revolver found in Tamura’s car in New York, and about 100 9mm rounds for the revolver.

New York City detectives remained in Las Vegas on Wednesday, authorities said. They have a warrant to search his Horseshoe casino locker, and were awaiting warrants to search his phone and laptop. They also planned to speak to his parents, officials said.

Family and friends of the victims, meanwhile, continued to express their grief and remember their loved ones on Wednesday.

Killed in the attack were New York City police officer Didarul Islam, who was guarding the building on a paid security job; unarmed security guard Aland Etienne, who helped control access to the upper floors; Wesley LePatner, a real estate executive at the investment firm Blackstone, which occupies much of the building; and Julia Hyman, an associate at Rudin Management, the company that owns the building and has offices on the 33rd floor. An NFL employee who was badly wounded in the attack is expected to live.

A funeral for Hyman, who had worked at Rudin since November, was held Wednesday at a Manhattan synagogue. She graduated from Cornell University in 2020 and previously attended Riverdale Country School in the Bronx, where she was captain of the soccer, swimming and lacrosse teams her senior year, school officials said.

Islam, 36, was an immigrant from Bangladesh who had served as a city police officer for over three years. He is survived by a pregnant wife and two children, and his funeral is scheduled for Thursday in the Bronx.

Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut.