New York authorities are handling as the main hypothesis that the 27-year-old man who killed four people in the building 345 Park Avenue on Monday night had the NFL headquarters as his target located on the fifth and sixth floors of that skyscraper.
“It seems like their target was NFL employees," said Mayor Eric Adams in an interview with the program “Good Day New York” on FOX 5.
It seems that Shane Tamura had a mental illness and related it to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), according to a letter found in his wallet after he committed suicide. “He hinted that he had CTE from playing in the NFL, but he was never in the NFL,” Mayor Adamas commented. Tamura played football at a high school in Los Angeles, but did not continue his career at the college or professional level.
What is CTE and why is it associated with American football?
Twenty years ago, clearly too late for the health and lives of hundreds of former players, the NFL finally took notice of the serious consequences of concussions and head impacts, even with the use of helmets.
It was Nigerian doctor Bennet Omalu who developed the theory of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, which causes severe brain damage and often leads to death.
According to an article from the Washington Post, the symptoms are similar to those of dementia and Alzheimer’s, and include memory loss, confusion, depression, and anxiety. However, CTE can only be investigated through the brain once the person has passed away.
Omalu, who is a pathologist, made this discovery in Pittsburgh after investigating the deaths of former Steelers players Mike Webster and Terry Long. His discovery was portrayed in the movie “Concussion” with Will Smith as the protagonist.
Since then, the NFL has developed much stricter regulations to penalize unnecessary violence, head hits, and to especially protect quarterbacks. In this scenario, soft cap protectors began to be used, initially for training sessions and as optional in-season games starting in 2024.
What did the NFL say about the Monday night attacks?
According to the version of the mayor of New York, Shane Tamura, who traveled in a BMW from Las Vegas, got on the wrong elevator and that’s why he arrived at the 33rd floor instead of the 5th, where the NFL offices are located.
In any case, in a memo sent by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, officials were informed that a league employee was seriously injured, although in stable condition.
According to the New York Post, in the note found on Tamura, he wrote “Terry Long, football gave me Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and made me drink a gallon of antifreeze”. Long, whose brain was investigated by Omalu, committed suicide after drinking antifreeze.
Furthermore, the killer wrote “please, study the brain to detect CTE. I’m sorry. The league knowingly concealed the dangers to our brains to maximize profits.”