Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears Live on FOX 5’s “Good Day New York”

July 29, 2025

Dan Bowens: Thank you very much. Well, police this morning searching for a motive in the deadly shooting in Midtown that took the lives of four people, including an off-duty NYPD officer.

Rosanna Scotto: Police identified the shooter as Shane Tamura, 27 years old, from Las Vegas. He opened fire on the Park Avenue building during rush hour on Monday night before turning the gun on himself. Joining us right now with more on the investigation, Mayor Adams, thank you so much. Our condolences to everyone who was affected yesterday, their families, the people who work in those buildings. What new information do you have for us this morning, mayor?

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you for having me and really pointing out this horrific incident. We had six people who were shot, one being the suspect. As you indicated, he turned the gun on himself and shot himself in the chest. 

He appeared to have some history, mental health history, from what we're getting from our partners in the Nevada, Las Vegas area. But it's just a real unfortunate situation. The suspect walked into the building 345 Park Avenue, carried in his right hand an automatic weapon, immediately discharged, roused, shot a police officer, Officer Islam, a three-year veteran with two children, and his wife is expecting a child on the way. And again, our hearts go out to the entire city in general, but specifically the men and women of the NYPD and Officer Islam's family.

Scotto: Yes, we agree with you and send our condolences as well. Tell us about the apparent suicide note that was in the shooter's pocket.

Mayor Adams: He alluded to having CTE from playing in the NFL. He never played in the NFL. He alluded to the CTE being the reason for his illness. It appears as though he was going after the employees at the NFL, the building 345, that houses the NFL's company there as well. But we're still going through the suicide note to zero in on the exact reason. But at this time, it appears as though something that is attached to his belief, he experienced CTE from playing in the NFL.

Bowens: And so it appears that this is an individual who drove all the way across the country from Las Vegas, believing he was suffering from this brain disorder known as CTE. He goes to this building where the NFL headquarters are located in some kind of revenge situation. He gets inside. He ends up on the 33rd floor. We know that the NFL offices are on a lower floor. Does it appear he got lost in the building? Was he trying to get there? Did he just go the wrong way? What can you tell us about that?

Mayor Adams: Yeah, great question. There are two different elevator banks. And as anyone that's in many of our corporate buildings, some banks don't go to every floor. He appeared to have gone to the wrong bank, and he ended up on the floor of Rudin Management. And you see on the videos that he discharged the weapon several times. 

And we must commend Rudin Management for the safety precautions that they've put in place, even a safe bathroom where you can lock it down with a bulletproof door. Some of the staffers used that. It's unfortunate that during these days and times, active shooter drills are taking place all across the country. And Rudin Management did their job of clearly having those active shooter drills. 

And the staffers who were in the building were able to utilize some of the safe rooms. And I believe it played a great role in saving the lives of some of the staffers. It was after 6 p.m., and so many people were no longer in the office, but he appeared to have gone to the wrong floor and to the wrong elevator bank, where you can see on the front desk which elevator bank was the NFL, but he did not go to that bank.

Bowens: Okay, so it sounds like he did go to the wrong floor. You know, you talked about a history of mental illness. You've been in touch with your partners out there in the Nevada area, where apparently he had a concealed carry permit. 

If this is an individual who had some history of mental illness and then is able to get this permit and a high-powered rifle, I mean, those things don't seem like they're adding up here with this history of mental problems and then being able to get this high-powered rifle.

Mayor Adams: And it harms cities like New York. When you look at the fact we have been on a very focused action of removing the illegal guns off our streets over close to 23,000, here you have a person that is able to drive from an area where the carry laws are more lax and enter our city and have in possession of an automatic weapon of this magnitude. 

That is the battle that we've had as New Yorkers that we had to actually not only police our city, but police the neighboring states that allow more lax gun laws and they enter our city. He drove from Las Vegas, as you stated, to come to New York to do harm.

Scotto: Mayor, were there any warning signs that he was on his way here? I know New York is always the target and that our police officers thwart a lot of possible attacks in this city. Do we have any indication that he was on the radar of our police officers?

Mayor Adams: No, not at all. And our partners from federal agencies, they were here to assist as well. And there were no indications at all that he was coming to New York to create any harm. And we understand that New Yorkers are shaken at this time and you will see a visible presence of our critical response teams that will be out at major shopping areas, but we don't believe that there are any other gunmen that were participating in this action. He's a lone gunman, but at a high level of abundance for caution, we're going to make sure that we do have our critical response team at our shopping locations and major tourist attractions.

Scotto: Mayor, 911 calls. This guy double parked his car on Park Avenue and got out of the car with a rifle. 

Bowens: High powered rifle, absolutely. 

Scotto: A high powered rifle. I know New Yorkers are rushing to get home. Sometimes they're looking at their phone. Were there 911 calls that alerted, that gave the police a heads up to get to the scene right away?

Mayor Adams: Yes, there were several calls made. Over 40 calls were made. And we announced last week about the partnership with Citizen Apps. I want to thank them. We were able to get communications out to New Yorkers. 

It was a powerful tool to let New Yorkers know, particularly those who were in the buildings, were pushed notifications to stay in the building, shelter in place until we could do a full sweep of the entire building. And as a personal note for me, I was a mailroom employee in the building 345 Park Avenue as a young child. And walking through the building and seeing the blood and the number of innocent people who were shot, it just brought me back to a full circle moment of some place that I worked as a young man.

Bowens: Mr. Mayor, we don't have a lot of time left. I know you have a busy morning, but gun violence in the United States is a serious problem. New York City and Midtown, these skyscrapers, we really haven't seen some of the problems that we've seen in other parts of the country, but now we have this guy. We have the Mangione situation from last year targeting a corporate individual. Are you worried that there could be a copycat?

Mayor Adams: You always focus on copycats, and that's why we want to make sure we have our uniform assets that are out at high target areas, but also there will be assets that you're not going to see where officers are going to be there to keep a close watch. And we really have to thank all of our corporate partners. We meet with our corporate partners around public safety, and they have taken great strides in making sure that they harden their structures and their buildings, and doing these trainings, it saves lives.

Scotto: Mayor, before we go, what are we doing? What is the city doing for Officer Islam's family?

Mayor Adams: One thing about the New York City Police Department, we consider our fellow officers both retired and active as part of a family, and the city's going to be here to ensure they get the support that they deserve at this very difficult time.

Scotto: Mayor Adams, thank you so much for being here this morning. We appreciate you talking to New Yorkers and basically comforting them during a time everybody was very, very nervous yesterday. Thank you, mayor. 

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