NEW YORK – Members of the football community began reacting Tuesday to the shooting at the NFL’s Manhattan office that killed four people after New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the gunman was attempting to reach the league’s part of the building but took the wrong elevator.
A couple of coaches, Brian Daboll of the New York Giants and Raheem Morris of the Atlanta Falcons, opened their remarks by referencing the shooting.
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“You all saw what happened there at 345 Park — tragic,” Daboll said, referring to the address of the NFL office.
Daboll said he had not had any conversations with players or staff about the situation or if they were concerned for their safety.
“Just want to start out addressing the senseless violence that happened in New York,” Morris said. “Just send our thoughts and prayers to everybody involved, including one of our own.”
Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a memo to staff that an NFL employee was seriously injured in the attack and was hospitalized in stable condition.
“We are deeply grateful to the law enforcement officers who responded to this threat quickly and decisively and to Officer Islam, who gave his life to protect others,” Goodell said.
Goodell praised the swift law enforcement response and honored the NYPD officer who was killed in the attack. Employees in New York were instructed to work remotely Tuesday or take the day off, he said, and additional security will be in place.
“Every one of you is a valued member of the NFL family,” Goodell said. “We will get through this together.”
Investigators believe Shane Tamura, of Las Vegas, was trying to get to the NFL offices after shooting several people Monday in the building’s lobby but accidentally entered the wrong set of elevator banks, Adams said in interviews.
Four people, including off-duty New York City Police Officer Didarul Islam, were killed. Police said Tamura had a history of mental illness, and a rambling note found on his body suggested that he had a grievance against the NFL over a claim that he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease that can only be diagnosed after someone has died.
Tamura played high school football in California nearly two decades ago but never in the NFL.
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AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi in Tampa, Florida, and AP Sports Writers Stephen Whyno in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and Charles Odum in Flowery Branch, Georgia, contributed to this report.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
