New 911 calls reveal mother's concerns about NYC shooter Shane Tamura
In the years before 27-year-old Shane Tamura walked into a New York City skyscraper and fatally shot four people, he had several run-ins with police and his mother had twice called authorities to report he threatened to kill himself, newly released records show.
In 2024 and 2022, Tamura's mother called 911 in Las Vegas telling dispatchers she was worried her son would take his own life. She said he had a firearm and had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and suffered from insomnia, depression and sports-related concussions.
Authorities have said Tamura, a former high school football player, had a history of mental health issues, but the 911 recordings and police reports made public by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department give new insight into Tamura's life in the years before the shooting.
On July 28, police say Tamura carried out a mass shooting in New York City, which they believe targeted the National Football League's headquarters. Officials say he drove across the country, walked into a Manhattan skyscraper and opened fire with a rifle, killing four people, including an off-duty police officer and several building workers. He died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
After the rampage, investigators discovered that he left behind more ammunition, firearms and a three-page note in which he said he suffered from CTE, a brain condition experienced by people who have repeated blows to the head, often through contact sports such as football.
The note criticized the NFL, saying it "knowingly concealed the dangers to our brains to maximize profits" and he asked his brain to be studied – a request that is being fulfilled by New York City's Office of Chief Medical Examiner as part of a full autopsy and neurological analysis.
The new 911 calls and police reports released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department include another mental health intervention in 2024, an arrest a year earlier for trespassing at a casino and a traffic violation. The shooting remains under investigation and a full autopsy could take several weeks.
Tamura threatened to take his own life in motel room, mother told police
In September 2022, his mother called 911 in Las Vegas and told a dispatcher that Tamura started slamming things and threatened suicide while at a motel. She said she was calling from her car but still had a key to the hotel room.
Tamura's mother told the dispatcher he had sleeping pills and kept a gun in his backpack.
"He didn't say he made a plan, he said that he just can't take it anymore," she told the dispatcher. "I'm afraid to leave."
His mother said Tamura was under a doctor's care for depression, sport-related concussions, chronic migraines and insomnia. After officers and a paramedic arrived on the scene an officer filed an emergency request for the former high school football player to be admitted to a mental health facility.
A year before shooting, Tamura hospitalized for mental health crisis
In August 2024, police and local paramedics went to Tamura's apartment after his mother reported he had threatened suicide. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department released body camera footage showing the responding officer's interaction with emergency medical responders and Tamura.
When the officer walked into the apartment, Tamura was sat shirtless while paramedics checked his vital signs. A paramedic at the scene spoke to the officer, telling him that Tamura "called his mom, made some statements about not wanting to be here anymore."
The paramedic said Tamura told them he had a gun in his backpack but has been cooperative. The encounter was calm with the officer and paramedics following him as he put on a shirt and grabbed a few items to take with him to a hospital. They walked downstairs and Tamura was put on a stretcher and wheeled into an ambulance.
An officer filed an application to admit him into a mental health facility or hospital for treatment related to a mental health crisis, records show.
Tamura's police encounters: Traffic violations, trespassing arrest
In the two years before Tamura carried out the deadly mass shooting, he was arrested for trespassing at a casino and was issued a citation for driving without a valid license.
In May 2024, he was pulled over by a Las Vegas Metropolitan police officer because he did not have a license plate on the back of his car.
"I know," he told officers, body camera footage shows. "I'm sorry guys. I know I shouldn't be driving."
After checking his license and registration information, an officer approached Tamura and told him he would receive a citation and his car would be towed because his license had been suspended. The officer and Tamura spoke calmly as the officer told him to park his car and get a ride home.
About seven months earlier, in September 2023, Tamura had a more aggressive interaction with police and was arrested on a charge of trespassing after he refused to leave a casino, a police report related to the incident said.
Police wrote that Tamura had been gambling at a table when an employee asked for his identification. Tamura refused to show it and he was asked to leave the property, according to police. He walked to the cashier clerk and asked to collect $5,000 in winnings. She asked for his ID, as is common practice with such amounts, and he refused again.
Police say he got into a heated conversation with security at the casino and at one point attempted to grab one of the security officials He was put on a wall and brought to a holding cell before police brought him outside and said he was free to go as long as he left the property. He refused to leave and was arrested on a trespassing charge, records show.
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