Michael Rothstein

Close

Michael Rothstein

ESPN Staff WriterMichael Rothstein, based in Atlanta, is a reporter on ESPN's investigative and enterprise team. You can follow him via Twitter @MikeRothstein.

Shwetha Surendran

Close

Shwetha Surendran

ESPNShwetha Surendran is a reporter in ESPN's investigative and enterprise unit.

Sep 26, 2025, 02:01 PM ET

Shane Tamura, the man who killed four people and then himself in a July shooting at the NFL headquarters building, was posthumously diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, according to a statement from the New York City Officer of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Tamura, 27, had claimed in a note found in his wallet following the shooting that he believed he had CTE and wanted his brain tested for it after his death. The medical examiner's office finding determined "unambiguous evidence" of CTE in Tamura's brain tissue. The testing determined Tamura suffered from "low-stage CTE." CTE can only officially be diagnosed after death.

Editor's Picks

2 Related

"We continue to grieve the senseless loss of lives, and our hearts remain with the victims' families and our dedicated employees," the NFL said in a statement. "There is no justification for the horrific acts that took place. As the medical examiner notes, 'the science around this condition continues to evolve, and the physical and mental manifestations of CTE remain under study'."

Tamura entered 345 Park Avenue around 6:30 p.m. on July 28 and killed four people: Didarul Islam, an off-duty police officer; Wesley LePatner, a real estate executive at Blackstone; Julia Hyman, an associate at Rudin Management and Aland Etienne, a security officer. He also wounded an NFL employee and according to law enforcement was believed to be attempting to reach NFL headquarters but took the wrong elevator.

In August, a source close to Tamura's family told ESPN that Tamura began playing tackle football at age 6 and continued through high school in the Los Angeles area before moving to Nevada, where he worked in private security and then in surveillance at a Las Vegas casino.

The source also told ESPN that Tamura had headaches as an adult and took injections in the back of his head to try and deal with the headaches. The same source said Tamura suffered from mental health issues.

Las Vegas law enforcement officers were also called twice during his time in the city for mental health checks, according to information released by the Las Vegas Police Department. That included a 2022 call in which Tamura's mother was concerned her son was going to kill himself. In that call, Tamura's mother told law enforcement he was being treated for depression, concussions, chronic migraines and insomnia.

He also had a mental health hold in 2024 and was arrested in 2023 at the Red Rock Casino in Henderson, Nevada, following a disagreement about showing identification following casino winnings. Prosecutors declined to charge Tamura in the 2023 case.

ESPN's Anthony Olivieri contributed to this report.