NYC office shooting victims include NYPD officer, security guard, Blackstone employee and Cornell grad

The four victims who were shot and killed by a gunman inside a Midtown Manhattan office building on Monday night have been identified.

They include two women — a Blackstone executive and a Cornell graduate — and two security guards, one of whom was an off-duty NYPD officer who was in uniform working a private security job as part of an NYPD program. The motive behind the shooting is still unclear.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday on “CBS Mornings” that investigators recovered a note in which the gunman,  27-year-old Shane Tamura of Las Vegas, appeared to blame his own traumatic head injury on the National Football League, which has offices in the building where the rampage took place. Investigators believe Tamura was targeting the NFL offices inside the office building at 345 Park Ave.

The 44-story tower also contains offices for several other major corporations, including the accounting firm KPMG and Blackstone, one of the world’s largest investment firms.

Here’s what we know so far about the victims.

Didarul Islam

Among the victims in the deadly shooting was NYPD Officer Didarul Islam, who worked out of the 47th Precinct in the Bronx. Islam was providing extra security at the building as part of a program that allows private companies to pay NYPD officers, CBS News New York’s Naveen Dhaliwal reported. 

Islam leaves behind two young sons and a pregnant wife, according to Mayor Adams.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul spoke with his wife.

“I said, ‘Is there anything we can do for you?’ And in her broken English, she just said, ‘Pray for us,'” Hochul said at a vigil Tuesday night.

“We are also saddened by the loss of the other innocent victims, as well, including brave security personnel and NYPD,” Blackstone said in a statement.

“Our hearts are with their loved ones and everyone affected by this tragedy, and we honor the first responders who bravely ran toward danger,” Hochul posted on X. The governor also ordered flags to be flown at half-staff statewide.

Wesley LePatner

Blackstone said Wesley LePatner worked at the global investment firm for more than a decade.

“Words cannot express the devastation we feel. Wesley was a beloved member of the Blackstone family and will be sorely missed. She was brilliant, passionate, warm, generous, and deeply respected within our firm and beyond. She embodied the best of Blackstone. Our prayers are with her husband, children and family,” Blackstone said in a statement. 

An initial investigation into the shooting found that a woman, later identified as LePatner, was hiding behind a pillar when she was shot and killed by the 27-year-old gunman as he walked through the lobby of 345 Park Ave.

LePatner was the senior managing director of real estate in New York at Blackstone, according to the company website. She was also the global head of Core+ Real Estate and the chief executive officer of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust.

She started working for Blackstone in 2014 after previously working at Goldman Sachs in the real estate investment group. LePatner was a Yale University alum, having received a B.A. in history from the university in 2003, according to her company profile page.

She served on the boards of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the UJA-Federation of New York, the Abraham Joshua Heschel School and the Yale University Library Council, according to her biography.

The Heschel School put out a statement saying she left behind two children, including a seventh grader at the school. 

“There are no right words for this unfathomable moment of pain and loss. It was a rare z’chut, a rare privilege, to know Wesley and to learn from her. She was a uniquely brilliant and modest leader and parent, filled with wisdom, empathy, vision, and appreciation,” the statement read, in part. “Quite simply, Wesley made the world — and all of the institutions that she touched, including the Heschel School — a better place. We are all diminished today by her absence. We will hold her lessons close, learn from her actions and commitments, and honor her memory with our own deeds.”

Hochul said LePatner’s husband was very proud of the way she was raising their 12- and 14-year-old children.

“I don’t know what to say to you to lift this pain off your heart, but I want you to know that we love you, as a city and as a state we love you,” she said.

Aland Etienne

Aland Etienne was working for McLane Security Inc. as an unarmed security guard, according to a spokesperson for 32BJ SEIU, a union representing property service workers.

Etienne had been a union member since 2017, the spokesperson said, when he started working in the Park Avenue office building. He was later moved to a different site before he returned to the Park Avenue building in 2019.

His brother, Smith Etienne, described Aland as a loving father.

“As we go through this difficult time, we’re still trying to process what happened yesterday, and our prayers are with everybody that’s affected by this,” Smith Etienne said.

Julia Hyman

The fourth victim worked for Rudin Management on the 33rd floor of the office building. Julia Hyman graduated from the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration, the school confirmed to CBS News.

“Julia was a cherished member of our community, and her loss is deeply felt across the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her during this time of unimaginable grief,” the college’s dean, Andrew Karolyi, said in a statement.

Hyman minored in real estate, and went on to work for one of New York City’s most notable real estate companies.

“Her journey was marked by determination, warmth, and a strong commitment to learning. We grieve this heartbreaking loss and extend our deepest condolences to everyone who was touched by her light,” said Kate Walsh, a professor of the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration.

Mayor Adams said a preliminary investigation found that the gunman had taken the wrong elevator, which led him to the Rudin Management offices, rather than the NFL headquarters. The investigation into the shooting is still ongoing.

Unidentified NFL employee injured

An NFL employee was shot and taken to the hospital with serious injuries. He was in stable condition, according to a message sent to employees from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“Our thoughts and prayers remain especially with our colleague who was impacted. He is currently surrounded by his family and members of the NFL community, and we are all continuing to hope for and support his full recovery,” Goodell said in a separate statement to colleagues on Tuesday.

The NFL offices will remain closed at least until Aug. 8, the commissioner said, telling those based in New York to plan to work remotely.

“Thank you to all of you for the compassion, care, and support you are showing to one another right now. It means so much to see how our team is pulling together,” he said.