A New York City police officer is among four people killed in a shooting inside a Midtown Manhattan high-rise.<\/p>\n
Police said the gunman walked into the office building on Monday evening with an MR rifle in clear view before spraying bullets in the lobby and on an upper floor. He then took his own life.<\/p>\n
The shooting \u2013 in the centre of the most populous US city \u2013 sent pedestrians running for cover as police warned of an active gunman around 1830 ET. Those inside the building cowered as gunfire echoed \u2013 some even piling couches and chairs against doors as they hid in offices.<\/p>\n
Police say the suspect, Shane Devon Tamura, 27, travelled from Las Vegas but a motive is unclear.<\/p>\n
Among those killed was New York City officer Didarul Islam, who was working security at the building at the time of the attack. The three other victims have yet to be identified.<\/p>\n
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the suspect entered the building at 345 Park Avenue, which houses businesses including the National Football League (NFL) and the investment management company Blackstone, and immediately opened fire.<\/p>\n
He fatally shot Mr Islam in the building\u2019s lobby, then took aim at a woman who hid cover behind a pillar. He proceeded through the lobby, \u201cspraying\u201d it with gunfire, hitting multiple people \u2013 including a security guard hiding behind a desk and another man nearby.<\/p>\n
As he waited for an elevator, a woman stepped off, but the gunman spared her and let her pass, Commissioner Tisch said.<\/p>\n
He made his way to the 33rd floor \u2013 where Ruden Building Management is located \u2013 and again opened fire \u2013 killing one person before walking down a hallway and shooting himself in the chest, she added at a Monday night news conference.<\/p>\n
Authorities are unsure of a motive, though Tisch noted the gunman had \u201cdocumented mental health history.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tamura travelled from Las Vegas to the East Coast over the last few days, stopping in Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa and New Jersey. He arrived in New York shortly before the shooting. It\u2019s unclear whether he has any ties to New York, the building or Ruden Building Management.<\/p>\n
Police searched the suspect\u2019s BMW, which he had double-parked out front, and found multiple magazine rounds and a revolver. The vehicle was registered in Nevada to Tamura, who was a registered gun owner in the state.<\/p>\n
Local officials and authorities celebrated Officer Islam Monday night. \u201cHe died as he lived \u2013 a hero,\u201d Ms Tisch said.<\/p>\n
An officer with the department for three years, Officer Islam was an immigrant from Bangladesh. He and his wife have two children, and his wife is currently pregnant with their third child.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was doing the job that we asked him to do,\u201d Ms Tisch said. \u201cHe made the ultimate sacrifice.\u201d<\/p>\n
The incident brought parts of Midtown Manhattan and public transportation to a halt. A BBC journalist at the scene reported seeing scores of police vehicles and at least one person with a bloodied chest being taken away on a stretcher.<\/p>\n
Bystanders reported hearing what sounded like gunshots and police told those in the area, including the BBC journalist, to shelter in nearby buildings. Watch: NYC police respond to shooting in Midtown Manhattan<\/p>\n
Police worked floor-by-floor to clear the building, an effort that took hours.<\/p>\n
Mama Bouhenni, working at the nearby Sip & Scoop coffee shop as the incident unfolded, told the BBC she saw dozens of people from surrounding buildings being evacuated.<\/p>\n
They held their hands above their heads, she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Bouhenni said she recognised many of them as customers. \u201cThis is so terrifying for them, I hope they can go home safe.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A New York City police officer is among four people killed in a shooting inside a Midtown Manhattan high-rise. Police said the gunman walked into the office building on Monday evening with an MR rifle in clear view before spraying bullets in the lobby and on an upper floor. He then took his own life. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118950\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}