Who Was Wesley LePatner? Glamorous Blackstone Executive and Mom of Two Identified as One of the Victims of Midtown NYC Shooting

International Business Times

7 days ago

A Blackstone executive was among the four people shot and killed by the gunman who opened fire inside a Midtown office building, the company confirmed on Tuesday. Wesley LePatner, 43, a senior managing director at the investment firm, was shot dead by Shane Tamura, 27, at Blackstone's New York headquarters at 345 Park Avenue on Monday evening.
LePatner was a married mother of two. Her husband, Evan, is employed at the private equity firm Courizon. The couple lived with their children in a $7 million apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Three other victims, including NYPD officer Didarul Islam, were killed after Tamura began shooting in the lobby.
Mom's Tragic Death
Wesley LePatner X
"Words cannot express the devastation we feel. Wesley was a beloved member of the Blackstone family and will be sorely missed," the firm told Bloomberg in a statement. "She was brilliant, passionate, warm, generous, and deeply respected within our firm and beyond."
LePatner joined Blackstone in 2014 and held the roles of global head of Core+ Real Estate and CEO of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, a property portfolio valued at $53 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Shane Tamura X
A Yale alumna, LePatner had spent over ten years at Goldman Sachs before joining Blackstone and held positions on several prominent New York City boards, including that of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Other Blackstone staff members are being treated in the hospital following the traumatic shooting, according to The Wall Street Journal. Details about the extent of their injuries have not yet been released.
Authorities said that Tamura drove from his home in Las Vegas in a black BMW, passing through Colorado on July 26 and continuing through New Jersey before reaching Manhattan.
Wesley LePatner with her husband and two children X
Chilling surveillance footage later showed him entering the building—home to the NFL's headquarters—wearing a sport coat and a button-down shirt, while carrying a large assault rifle.
He began shooting inside the lobby shortly before 6:30 p.m.
Tamura was once a star high school football player, deeply passionate about the sport and seemingly headed for a future shaped by structure and teamwork.
During his senior season, he earned six Player of the Game honors, racked up 126 carries for 616 rushing yards, and scored five touchdowns over nine games.
Sick Motive
In recent years, Tamura had a "documented history of mental health issues," NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated during a press briefing. Yet, he earned a private investigator's license and was legally granted a concealed carry permit through the Las Vegas Sheriff's Department.
Shane Tamura seen walking inside a NYC office building with an assault rifle in his hand before opening fire and killing four people X
The NFL's headquarters are located on the fifth floor of the building, but according to law enforcement, Tamura never went up to that level.
However, an NFL employee was "seriously injured," as mentioned in an internal staff memo from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, obtained by CNN.
Goodell said that the injured employee was rushed to the hospital, where fellow NFL staff members are currently supporting the employee's family.
Shane Tamura was a former high school football player with a documented history of mental health struggles X
Meanwhile, police in both New York City and Nevada are investigating Tamura's background, digging through his social media activity and searching his Las Vegas residence for clues that might reveal his motive.
Authorities have already recovered a rifle case containing ammunition, a loaded revolver, extra magazines, a backpack, and prescription medication from his vehicle.
Police believe Tamura acted alone in the broad daylight shooting.
However, investigators are still working to determine whether anyone helped him in planning the attack or helped facilitate his travel across state lines and entry into the highly secured office tower, which was locked down while armed officers swept the building.