New York City shooter: Echoes of Luigi Mangione, alleged CEO killer

The deadly shooting in a midtown Manhattan office tower Monday targeted one of America's corporate titans and echoed in many ways last December's execution-style killing of a health insurance CEO blocks away. 

Shane Tamura, 27, of Las Vegas, who authorities say killed four people, including a police officer, in a broad daylight attack on a Park Avenue office building, drove out of state to the city. So did Luigi Mangione, 27, the Maryland man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4, 2024 outside a Manhattan hotel.

Tamura harbored a grudge against the NFL, the authorities said. In a note found with him after he fatally shot himself, Tamura blamed the league for his traumatic brain injury. Mangione also is alleged by authorities to have written a letter, which listed his grievances against the Minnesota-based health insurance giant and the reasons for his alleged actions.

Tamura left Las Vegas Saturday, armed with a high-powered rifle, ammunition, a handgun and deadly intent, authorities said. He double-parked his black BMW about 6:30 p.m. and walked into 345 Park Ave., where the NFL has its headquarters. Police said he shot and killed an off-duty NYPD officer moonlighting as security detail and three others before turning an assault rifle on himself. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the chest, the NYPD said.

In Tamura's pocket, police found his three-page handwritten "rambling," casting blame for his traumatic brain injury on chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE, Mayor Eric Adams told PIX11 News.

"The note found on the suspect stated he had CTE, a brain injury known for those who played contact sports of some nature, and he seemed to have blamed the NFL," the mayor said

Tamura never played professional football, the mayor said, but was a star running back on his high school team before he graduated in 2016, according to authorities.

Calls to Tamura’s family were not immediately returned Tuesday.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that Tamura had a history of mental illness.

Mangione, 27 traveled across the country by a bus from Georgia to New York with a homemade gun, prosecutors allege. He wrote a pages-long manifesto laying out his grievances with the health insurance industry, according to prosecutors. Mangione suffered from a painful spinal condition called L5-S1 isthmic spondylolisthesis, according to a Reuters report. 

Mangione’s defense team did not respond to a request for comment.

Tamura appears to have been a standout high school football player 10 years ago, but never played professionally. He lived in a middle-class suburb of Las Vegas with his extended family, working for Horseshoe Casino, according to a casino spokeswoman.

Mangione also came from a stable background, attending a prestigious Maryland private school, graduating at the top of his class before going on to the University of Pennsylvania. Mangione comes from an affluent family and appeared to spend much of his 20s traveling and living in Hawaii and Japan before the alleged crime.

Both men appeared to have lived mostly law-abiding lives before their sudden violent outbursts. Tamura had a brief brush with the law in 2023 when he was arrested for trespassing, but the case was dropped within a few months.

Michael Balboni, a former New York State senator and state homeland security director, drew parallels between the Tamura shooting and the UnitedHealthcare killing in their randomness and planning.

Balboni who is a security consultant with RedLand Strategies and previously consulted Suffolk County, said the shooting of a United He althcare CEO heightened security and threat assessments. He said Monday's shooting will heighten efforts to prevent future attacks.

"After United Healthcare, it sent a shock wave through the security community, saying, so how do we do better intelligence?" Balboni said. "How do we focus on people's social media? How do we try to anticipate? Anticipating violence has always been the most difficult thing we can do in society, particularly when it involves mental health."