Manhattan shooting suspect claimed to have CTE, mentioned NFL in note, sources say
ABC News
(NEW YORK) — The 27-year-old man who allegedly shot and killed four people at a Midtown office building on Monday carried a note in his pocket claiming he suffered from CTE and asking that his brain be studied, police sources told ABC News.
The note also made references to the National Football League, police said. The shooting on Monday took place at 345 Park Ave., which houses, among other companies, the NFL’s headquarters.
CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, is a brain disease linked to repeated hits to the head, often seen in military veterans and athletes including football players, hockey players and boxers. CTE can’t be diagnosed in a living person with certainty, but doctors may suspect it based on symptoms and history of head trauma.
The suspect, Shane Tamura, who the police said has a documented mental health history, played high school football.
Tamura is alleged to have shot and killed four people, including an off-duty police officer working security in a Midtown Manhattan office building, officials said during a press conference Monday evening.
Police have not detailed a potential motive for the killings.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a message to staff, saying one of the league’s employees was also injured in the attack.
Law enforcement sources said Tamura had two Mental Health Crisis Holds in his background in Nevada, one in 2022 and the other in 2024. Those holds typically allow a person to be detained for up to 72 hours if they are thought to be a danger to themselves or others.
According to one source, when there is this type of hold in Nevada, officers have to transport the person to the hospital. Once that happens, medical staff take over and decide how long to hold the person.
A Las Vegas police source said Tamura also got his CCW, or concealed carry, in 2022 and also has a previous arrest for trespassing in the state.
The three-page note was described by sources as rambling. It contained references to the NFL that sources described as vague.
The only way to confirm CTE is through an autopsy by specialists who look for specific changes in the brain. Researchers analyze the brains post-mortem to look for tau protein changes that define CTE.
The disease causes symptoms — which usually appear years after the head trauma — including memory loss, mood changes, confusion, and trouble thinking clearly.
Flood waters left debris including vehicles and equipment scattered in Louise Hays Park on July 5, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. Eric Vryn/Getty Images
(KERRVILLE, Texas) — As the Guadalupe River overflowed in Kerr County on the Fourth of July, officials with a local agency charged with “managing water quality and water quantity” in the Texas Hill Country appeared perplexed by the extent of the unfolding crisis and their role in addressing it, according to emails and text messages obtained by ABC News.
“Wow!! It’s a beautiful thing!” an official initially wrote to an Upper Guadalupe River Authority (UGRA) group chat at 7:09 a.m. — including a screenshot of a graph showing a massive increase in streamflow levels along the river in Kerrville — following drought conditions that Kerr County had faced prior to the flooding.
As others in the group chat shared the increasingly concerning reports they were hearing, it quickly became clear that there was cause for alarm.
“So I know I said it’s a beautiful thing earlier,” the official wrote at 7:38 a.m. “I had just woken up and hadn’t looked at the gages yet. It’s terrible.”
By that time, parts of Kerr County had already been inundated with floodwaters for several hours, flood alerts had been issued, and the Kerrville Police Department had received calls for multiple water rescues.
“When it all settles back down, it will be a totally different river,” an individual identified as maintenance technician Kevin Molenaar wrote.
‘Any word on Camp Mystic?’
The staggering toll of the flooding would not become apparent for days. More than 130 deaths were ultimately reported across the region, with many of the fatalities occurring at Camp Mystic.
On July 4, one official texted Dick Eastland, the camp’s president, “You are in my prayers.”
There was no response.
Eastland, who also served as the treasurer for the UGRA’s Board of Directors, died during the storm alongside multiple young campers and counselors.
“The poor children at the camps and their parents,” an official wrote in a group chat. “And so many people here in RVs for the 4th.”
The communications were released in response to a request filed by ABC News under Texas law.
They paint a picture of confusion and concern throughout Independence Day, with some text messages stating that water gages in Hunt and Kerrville had stopped reading. In other messages, UGRA representatives posted what they had learned from news outlets or on social media.
“There are missing people and possibly missing kids from mystic but that is not confirmed,” an official posted at 9:47 a.m.
Less than two hours later, the official typed, “They are saying now all camp mystic accounted for. Praise the lord.”
An individual identified as natural resources manager Shelby Taber responded, “Glad to hear camp mystic is all safe!”
But by mid-afternoon, the UGRA’s senior leadership appeared to realize the situation at Camp Mystic was more dire — though they did not know specific details.
“Any word on Camp Mystic?” UGRA board president William Rector emailed general manager Tara Bushnoe at 2:41 p.m. “I bet we may find some financial assistance for establishing our Floor Warning System!”
Bushnoe responded at 3:12 p.m. that she only knew what she had seen on a local news website indicating “there are some girls missing” and that the camp had issued a statement that aired on a local newscast.
“I don’t know if a flood warning system would have made enough difference,” Bushnoe wrote. “I think it would have made some, but this happened so quickly. We will have to be careful with our messaging to be respectful of the devastation.”
“Very true.” Rector wrote back. “I think working behind the scenes is going to be the most appropriate action at this time. We, however, need to be concerned that the county does not try to sieze [sic] control.”
Contacted by ABC News regarding the messages, officials with the UGRA did not respond to a request for comment.
‘Vulnerable to flash floods’
ABC News previously asked the UGRA for any flood after-action reports it may have created over the last 25 years following other storms along the Guadalupe River, but a law firm representing the authority said that they “have no responsive information.”
Documents released over the last month show that concerns over the risks posed by the Guadalupe River in Kerr County were widely known ahead of the Fourth of July floods, with the UGRA being particularly cognizant.
As ABC News previously reported, the authority submitted an application last year to state officials seeking a $1 million grant from the Texas Flood Infrastructure Fund for a project called the “Kerr County Flood Warning System” that would have included “high water detection systems at 10 low water crossings.”
“Since 1932, approximately 35 lives have been lost in floods in Kerr County. Many of those lost were in vehicles attempting to cross flooded roads,” the application noted alongside a timeline of deaths between 1987 and 2016.
However, in October 2024 the UGRA declined to continue applying for funding from the Infrastructure Fund, with Bushnoe writing in a letter at the time that although Kerr County was “vulnerable to flash foods,” the project would have been “only eligible for a 5% grant.”
“We will continue to explore options to implement a Kerr County flood warning system and financial assistance opportunities,” Bushnoe’s letter said.
The letter did not note who decided that the project would have only been eligible for a 5% grant.
The UGRA later reached an agreement with a company called Kisters to develop a different flood warning system that would have consisted of a “centralized dashboard to support local flood monitoring and emergency response.”
The agreement, which was signed exactly one month before the July 4 floods, indicated that the project was expected to cost more than $70,000.
A kick-off meeting was scheduled for mid-July, but the plans were put on hold after the floods. It remains unclear what happened to the plan crafted in 2024 for the $1 million flood warning system.
Kisters did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment following the floods.
‘We’ll be getting lots of calls’ July 4 was supposed to be a day of celebration in Kerr County, with a major Independence Day fireworks event called “Fourth on the River” scheduled to take place just a stone’s throw from the Guadalupe River.
Instead, it became one of the most tragic days in Central Texas history, with scores of people unaccounted for after sunset.
At the Upper Guadalupe River Authority, some staff members discussed the significance of the catastrophe among each other.
“I am hopeful they find more survivors tonight, but I assume the worst for the missing,” natural resources specialist Travis Linscomb texted another staffer at 11:48 p.m.
“Hopefully this will push the early flood warning topic to the forefront and we get more done this time around,” Linscomb added. “Unfortunately it seems like it takes major loss of life to get the ball really rolling on it like Blanco 2015 did,” an apparent reference to another flood a decade ago.
As the calendar turned to July 5, the UGRA team grappled with how to explain their role as inquiries came in, according to the communications.
“I have a feeling we’ll be getting lots of calls from very angry people asking why we let this happen because they want someone to blame and I’m going to have no idea what to tell them,” one official wrote at 7:21 a.m.
The lack of an effective flood warning system in Kerr County would become top of mind in the hours, days and weeks after the banks of the Guadalupe overflowed. A committee of Texas legislators is now investigating the circumstances surrounding the July 4th floods.
“Some of the comments I’m seeing are saying things along the lines of ‘how is there now [sic] flood warning system in 2025?'” an employee wrote to Linscomb early in the morning on July 5. “I want so badly to tell them that there is soooooo much more to it than just snapping your fingers and making it happen. Red tape, money, equipment that may not even survive a flood (like we saw today), etc.”
“I can’t imagine just being asleep then waking up to your rv floating away with you and your family in it and there is absolutely nothing you can do,” the employee said. “The fear and helplessness people must have felt is gutwrenching.”
(MINNESOTA) — Minnesotans are lining up at the state capitol on Friday to honor a slain lawmaker and her husband as their accused killer made a brief appearance in court.
Melissa Hortman is the first woman to lie in state, according to the Minnesota House of Representatives.
Next to the Hortmans was their golden retriever, Gilbert, who was wounded in the attack and later had to be euthanized, officials said.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and first lady Gwen Walz are among those paying their respects.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris will attend the couple’s private funeral on Saturday, according to a source familiar with Harris’ plans.
Harris spoke to the Hortmans’ two children, Sophie and Colin, in the last week “to express her deep condolences and offer her support,” the source said.
Meanwhile, the Hortmans’ alleged killer, Vance Boelter, who faces federal charges including stalking and state charges including first-degree murder, briefly appeared in federal court on Friday.
Boelter alleged the conditions in jail have kept him from sleeping for 12 to 14 days, according to Minneapolis ABC affiliate KSTP. Boelter claimed the doors are slammed incessantly, the lights are always and that he sleeps on a mat without a pillow, KSTP reported. He also allegedly said an inmate next to him spreads feces, KSTP reported.
The judge agreed to push back Boelter’s hearing to July 3, according to KSTP. Boelter has not entered a plea.
Boelter is accused of shooting and killing the Hortmans at their home in Brooklyn Park and shooting and wounding Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their house in nearby Champlin in the early hours of June 14, authorities said.
Boelter, 57, allegedly showed up to their doors, impersonating a police officer and wearing a realistic-looking latex mask to carry out his “political assassinations,” prosecutors said.
Investigators recovered a list of about 45 elected officials in notebooks in his car, according to prosecutors. Two other lawmakers were spared the night of the shootings, officials said.
ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway and Brittany Shepherd contributed to this report.
(CHICAGO) — A 36-year-old police officer who was a mother to a young daughter and four-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department has been shot and killed while on duty in Chicago, police said.
The incident occurred at approximately 9:50 p.m. on Thursday night when Chicago Police Department officers assigned to the 6th (Gresham) District Tactical Team were on patrol when they attempted to conduct an investigatory stop on a male suspect in the 8200 block of S. Drexel Avenue, according to a statement from the Chicago Police Department.
Officers approached the suspect, but the individual immediately fled on foot into a nearby building, police said.
Law enforcement subsequently pursued the suspect into the building but were confronted by another individual who was armed inside of the residence which the suspect fled to, authorities continued.
“The armed offender fled the residence and was taken into custody,” police said. “An officer sustained a gunshot wound and was taken to an area hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.”
The police officer who died has not yet been named but Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said said she was a 36-year-old female officer who had been with the department for four years at the 6th District and was a mother to a young daughter.
“She lost her life tragically doing the job that she loved and that was one of the things that her mother said, she loved her job and the way that she worked, it was evident that she did love her job and she wanted to make Chicago a better place,” Snelling said during a press conference. “She wanted to make it safer.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson said the entire city is mourning the loss of this officer.
“This young woman served honorably and courageously. I am calling on the entire city of Chicago to keep this officer’s family in your prayers along with our entire police department,” Mayor Johnson said. “Her young, energetic bold approach toward keeping us safe is the memory that we will honor.”
An additional officer sustained an injury to the wrist and was taken to the hospital in fair condition, police said, but no other injuries were reported.
Three firearms were located on the scene and multiple people were taken into custody, police said.
Overall, between Jan. 1 and April 30, 16 police officers in the United States have been feloniously killed in the line of duty and firearms were used in 75% of those incidents, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The leading circumstances surrounding officers’ deaths included activities related to responses to unlawful or suspicious activities, pursuits and traffic stops, according to the Justice Department.
Accidental law enforcement deaths, however, have decreased 68.2% when comparing the first four months of 2024 (22 deaths) with those of 2025 (7 deaths), with the leading causes of accidental deaths in 2025 being motor vehicle crashes and officers struck by vehicle.
The investigation into the death of the 36-year-old officer is currently ongoing.
