The 27-year-old Las Vegas man who walked into the NFL headquarters Park Avenue building with a rifle and opened fire, linking football to his mental illness as he killed four people before turning the gun on himself, did indeed have CTE, the New York City medical examiner’s office said in a statement Friday.
Shane Tamura, 27, died by suicide, with the cause of death being a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the torso, according to the medical examiner. He had left a suicide note at the July scene, wondering if CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, tied to his youth football activities, could be responsible for his mental illness.
Tamura, in the note, asked for his brain to be tested, as CTE can only be detected through autopsy. On Friday, the medical examiner’s office said it had found “unambiguous diagnostic evidence of CTE” in his brain tissue.
“The findings correspond with the classification of low-stage CTE, according to current consensus criteria,” the statement said. “CTE may be found in the brains of decedents with a history of repeated exposure to head trauma. The science around this condition continues to evolve, and the physical and mental manifestations of CTE remain under study.”
CTE is a progressive neurodegenerative disease found in individuals with a history of repetitive head trauma. Symptoms include cognitive impairment and mood, personality and behavioral changes, as well as movement disorders. Tamura and his family said he showed symptoms of the disease.
Tamura had two mental health incidents, one in 2022 and one in 2024, according to law enforcement officials in Nevada briefed on the investigation. In the 2022 case, his mother called 911, told them he threatened to kill himself and said he suffered from sports-related concussions and other issues.
His psychiatric history would not have prevented him from legally purchasing the revolver, unless relatives or law enforcement sought a so-called extreme risk protection order from the courts.
Tamura, a casino worker, sprayed 345 Park Ave’s lobby with bullets, then shot another person in a 33rd-floor office before he killed himself, authorities said. Among the dead were a police officer, a security guard and two people who worked at companies in the building. An NFL employee was badly wounded.
The attacker’s grievances with the NFL emerged as police worked to piece together his background and motivations. Tamura played high school football in California a decade ago, but never played in the NFL.
The NFL didn’t immediately address the medical examiner’s findings Friday. Previously, the organization expressed its condolences