Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears Live on CNN’s “The Situation Room”

July 29, 2025

Wolf Blitzer: Back to the breaking news that we're following this morning. Manhattan reeling after a lone gunman killed four people before fatally shooting himself at a Park Avenue skyscraper Monday night in Manhattan, marking New York City's deadliest mass shooting in some 25 years.

And we just learned that the gunman worked the Horseshoe Las Vegas Hotel and Casino as a surveillance department employee. Joining us now is the New York City Mayor, Eric Adams. Mayor, thanks so much for joining us. I wish we were talking about something more pleasant than this.

My deepest condolences are with the police department and your city right now. Have investigators shed any more light on what may have been the motive for this attack? Mayor, I don't know if you know we're gonna try to correct the audio. We're not hearing you right now. Maybe we can turn that on.

Mayor Eric Adams: Can you hear me now?

Blitzer: All right, we got you. Yeah, I hear you. Did you hear my question?

[Crosstalk.]

Mayor Adams: The investigation is continuing. We're sending two teams to Las Vegas, one to execute a search warrant and the other to look at the two firearms and guns that were recovered. The motive appeared to be connected to the shooter's belief that he was suffering from CTE and he was an ex NFL player of those items. Just items just don't pan out. He never played for the NFL, and so we're still unraveling of this terrible shooting that took place in the city.

Blitzer: Yeah, never played for the NFL, never played college football. He did play high school football. New York authorities, as you well know, mayor, found prescription medication, a loaded revolver and more ammunition in the suspect's car, which was double parked on Park Avenue right across from that building. Were there any indications he was planning additional violence elsewhere in New York besides the Park Avenue office building?

Mayor Adams: Not at this time. We had a large number of bullets that were found in the car. But at this time, the investigation has not concluded if he was going to take more actions.

Blitzer: What about the medication that police found in his car? Did that have anything to do with the suspect's mental health issues?

Mayor Adams: It's still under investigation. As you can imagine, this is still relatively new. It's less than 24 hours that the shooting took place, around 6:20 something last night. And so there's there are many layers of the investigation that we have to peel back to sort of get a full understanding of what took place here and what motivated a shooting of this magnitude. And as you indicated, we lost a young officer who has two children and a child on the way. It was just a devastating impact what happened to Officer Islam as well as the other victims.

Blitzer: It's so heartbreaking indeed. I know it's still very early in the investigation. Mayor, is there any indication at least so far that the suspect was on the radar of any illegal authorities?

Mayor Adams: No, not at all. And what's challenging Wolf is that we have done an amazing job here removing illegal guns and weapons off our streets. But this came into our city. Many of the other jurisdictions have more lax gun policies. It appears as though this individual had a permit to obtain firearms. And we really need to look at allowing our federal law enforcement officials to look into the database of those with severe mental health illness. Should they be allowed to carry firearms? This is a conversation that is going to be carried out on the federal level. But he was not on our radar at all.

Blitzer: Will they be doing an autopsy? And will authorities be testing the suspect's brain for what's called CTE?

Mayor Adams: The ME, medical examiner here in the city, he would make that determination on the next steps in collaboration with the district attorney in Manhattan County.

Blitzer: We know, mayor, that one woman who encountered the shooter in the elevator was spared. Have you or investigators spoken to her and how is she doing? And what did she have to say?

Mayor Adams: Yeah, it was pretty eerie. When you looked at the video of Wolf, you saw that after the suspect shot several individuals, he came in contact with the woman who was leaving the elevator, and he allowed her to walk past him without any action at all. And he just shot one of the security guards who was behind the desk. And so that is going to be part of the investigation in the interviews that will follow.

Blitzer: Was the suspect's concealed firearms permit that was issued in Nevada back in 2022 still active? And what do we know about the permit or any of the gun purchases?

Mayor Adams: We're looking into that. That is why our team is going to Las Vegas to do a thorough investigation into the firearms to find out where they legally possessed and where they want his permit. And was he allowed to follow? But that is part of the ongoing investigation that our detectives are going to carry out in Las Vegas.

Blitzer: As you know, President Trump issued a statement earlier this morning from Scotland, saying he's been briefed on the shooting, and he expressed his condolences. Have you actually, mayor, spoken to the president since last night's shooting? And if so, what did he have to say?

Mayor Adams: No, I have not. And we thank him for his kind words for all of the victims and for the slain officer. I have communicated with our federal authorities, and our teams are doing the same. They are assisting us as we move forward in this investigation.

Blitzer: Finally, mayor, I know you spoke with police officer Didarul Islam's family, the New York police officer who was killed. You are a former police officer yourself. So what's your message to his family and the family of the other victims?

Mayor Adams: A painful moment, and everyone who puts on a uniform, we do it with the full understanding that we're going to run towards danger as others will run away. And this was his dad's only son. And, you know, as a father with one child, a son, I could only imagine how painful it is. And I share that with him and his family, and we thanked them for his service. This is a fine family. This was a fine young man that believed in faith, believed in fatherhood and believed in protecting the City of New York.

Blitzer: And as I said, our deepest condolences to his family. May he rest in peace and may his memory be a blessing. Mayor Eric Adams of New York, thanks so much for joining us. Thanks for all you're doing.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Take care.

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