Chaotic scene in Midtown Manhattan after shots ring out in office tower, killing 4 including police officer

CBS News

5 days ago

Fear and confusion were rampant after a gunman shot and killed four people and wounded another in a Midtown Manhattan office tower Monday evening before, authorities said, taking his own life.
Police identified him as Shane D. Tamura, 27, of Las Vegas.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said surveillance video shows the suspect leaving a double-parked black BMW alone and entering the building on Park Avenue with an M4 rifle in his right hand. He immediately opened fire at NYPD officer Didarul Islam, killing him.
The gunman then shot a woman who'd taken shelter behind a pillar, then moved through the lobby, peppering it with gunfire, officials said. He then shot a security guard who'd taken cover behind a security desk. Another man who was wounded told police at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital he was shot in the lobby, Tisch said.
The police commissioner said at one point the gunman was waiting for an elevator to arrive and when it did, a woman came out but he let her to walk by unharmed. The gunman then took the elevator to the 33rd floor offices of Rudin Management and "began walking the floor, firing rounds as he traveled," Tisch said, killing one person before walking down the hallway and shooting himself in the chest.
One man who works in the building told CBS News New York he "heard all these loud bangs, had no idea what it was ... I turn around all these people are running. ... I came out five minutes later (and) one of my co-workers came out and he said he saw two people get shot, and five minutes after that another one of our co-workers came out and said he saw two police officers trying to go up to the elevator banks that go to the higher floors."
A woman who also works in the area told CBS News New York, "We rushed the window in the direction where the helicopters are going, and then, we look and there's cop cars everywhere, and then someone pulls up Twitter and we find out that there is an active shooter."
The building houses the headquarters of the NFL and Blackstone, one of the world's largest investment firms, and has numerous other well-known tenants.
A perimeter was blocked off around the building for blocks in every direction. NYPD officers and caution tape warned passersby away. Helicopters passed overhead for hours.
People were told to shelter in place in buildings in the vicitniity.
Jacob Stern, who works in one of them, told CBS News New York, "The building personnel said, 'Stay in place, there's an active shooter, don't leave, get away from the windows.' Your adrenaline rushes and, you know, it's pretty scary when the building says 'don't go by the windows.'"
A number of tourists kept asking what had happened as they walked by and darted off with looks of concern when they learned there'd been a shooting.
Two Blackstone employees in white-collared shirts and dress pants stood on a corner making calls and seemed relieved when they were told not to come in to work Tuesday.
A young man who moved to New York only two weeks ago to work for Bank of America came to check out the scene.
At an building nearby, people were ordering in late takeout food and gathering in the lobby. They told of colleagues who'd stepped out to get food as it was happening, not realizing what was going on down the block.
Even hours after the shooting, one young woman seemed unsure if it was safe to leave.
Late into the night, the streets were ablaze with flashing lights from police and FDNY vehicles lining the scene's perimeter.
Local TV footage showed lines of people evacuating the office building where the shootings took place with their hands above their heads in the hours after the killings, according to The Associated Press.
Nekeisha Lewis was eating dinner with friends on the nearby plaza when she heard gunfire. "It felt like it was a quick two shots and then it was rapid fire," she told the AP. Windows shattered and a man ran from the building saying, "Help, help. I'm shot." Lewis said.
Kyle Marshall, 38, was working at a nearby Morgan Stanley office when his mother texted him about an active-shooter incident, asking if he was OK, Reuters reports. "Then she texted me the address, and I was, like, 'Oh my God. That's right next door to my building,'" he said.
Marshall lives in the San Francisco area but comes to New York monthly for work. "It doesn't make me feel less safe to be in Manhattan," he said. "The police responded quickly."
A man who only gave CBS News his first name, Kendall, works nearby. "After things calmed down," he said, "yu start to see just, just worry. It went fromkind of frantic, 'Are you safe?' ... and then it went straight to worry. And just hoping for the best."