Image source, Getty Images
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- Author, Christal Hayes y Rachel Hagan
- Author's title, BBC News
A man armed with an assault rifle entered a skyscraper in Manhattan, in the heart of New York, and killed four people shots and then committed suicide.
Shane Tamura, 24 years old and Las Vegas, entered the office building in Park Avenue de Manhattan on Monday night and opened fire in the lobby before taking the elevator to the 33rd floor to continue his attack.
Four people died including Dirarul Islam, a 36 -year -old New York City police, who was serving a security shift. The other three victims have not been identified.
The attacker seems to have driven through the US from Las Vegas. Police reported that it was known that he had mental health problems and are investigating the mobile.
The shooting caused pedestrians to run to take refuge while the police warned of an active gun at 6:30, local time. Those who were inside the building crouched before the echo of the shots, some stacking sofas and seats against the doors as they hid in the offices.
The skyscraper is host of the NFL, the National Football League, as well as giant financial companies such as Blackstone and KMPG and other important firms.
The New York police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, said the suspect seemed to have acted alone. At a press conference he said that a fifth victim was hit and that he was in “critical but stable condition.”
The dead policeman Didarul Islam, a Bangladesi immigrant, father of two and waiting for a third son, had served in the New York Police Department for three and a half years.
Local officials and authorities praised Islam, expressing that he had died as a “hero.”
Tisch added: “I was fulfilling the work we had asked. He made the maximum sacrifice.”
Image source, CBS
Inside the building
After shooting against Islam as he entered the building, Tamura pointed to a woman who hid behind a column. He advanced by the lobby, “sprinkling” it with shots, impacting multiple people, including a security guard that hid behind a desk and another man nearby.
While waiting for the elevator, a woman got off, but the gunman let her pass, said Tisch commissioner.
He went to the 33rd floor, killed a person before walking down a hall and shooting in the chest, added at the press conference on Monday night.
The police recorded the suspect's vehicle, parked in front of the building, and found several loaders and a revolver. The vehicle was registered in Nevada in the name of Tamura, who had permission to carry weapons in the state.
The incident paralyzed parts of the center of Manhattan and public transport. A BBC journalist who was in the place reported having seen dozens of police vehicles and at least a person with a bloodied chest being transferred on a stretcher.
The passersby informed having heard what seemed shots and the police told those in the area, including the BBC journalist, who took refuge in surrounding buildings.
Image source, NYPD
The authorities registered a flat for apartment to evict the structure, in an effort that took hours.
Mama Bouhenni, who worked in the Sip & Scoop cafeteria next door when the incident was developed, told the BBC that he saw dozens of people being evacuated from the surrounding buildings.
They held their hands on their heads, he said.
Bouhenni said he recognized many of them as clients. “This is so horrible for them, I hope they can get home healthy and saved.”
Indrani Basu contributed to this report
