A female Blackstone executive has been named as the second victim of a Midtown Manhattan shooting that saw four people murdered.
Wesley LePatner, a 43 year-old senior managing director at the investment giant, was gunned down by Shane Tamura, 27, at Blackstone’s New York headquarters at 345 Park Avenue Monday evening.
LePatner was a married mother. Her husband Evan works at private equity firm Courizon, with the couple and their children sharing a $7 million apartment on New York’s Upper East Side.
Three others including NYPD officer Didarul Islam were also killed when a gunman identified as 27-year-old Shane Tamura walked into 345 Park Avenue and opened fire in the lobby.
Tamura shot dead an unnamed security guard who tried to take cover behind a security desk, as well as an unidentified woman who tried to hide behind a lobby pillar.
LePatner, a trustee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, oversaw businesses with more than $140 billion in assets for Blackstone, where she had worked since 2014.
She grew up in New York City with attorney parents and previously worked at Goldman Sachs.
LePatner was killed in the lobby, according to the Wall Street Journal which reported that other Blackstone employees are in the hospital receiving treatment.
‘Wesley was a beloved member of the Blackstone family and will be sorely missed,” the company said in a statement to The New York Times.
Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner was among those killed in a mass shooting in a Manhattan skyscraper on Monday
LePatner is seen with her husband Evan LePatner in January, 2018
Shane Tamura, 27, was caught on chilling surveillance footage wearing a sport coat and button-down shirt while carrying a large M4 assault rifle into the skyscraper at 345 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan Monday evening
‘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. We are also saddened by the loss of the other innocent victims as well, including brave security personnel and N.Y.P.D.’
Meanwhile slain NYPD officer Islam, 36, was an immigrant from Bangladesh who had served as a police officer in New York City for 3 1/2 years, Tisch said at a news conference.
He was one of two NYPD officers working paid detail at the building.
‘He was doing the job that we asked him to do. He put himself in harm’s way. He made the ultimate sacrifice,’ Tisch said. ‘He died as he lived. A hero.’
The other two victims have yet to be identified.
The shooting took place at a skyscraper that is home to the headquarters of both the NFL and Blackstone, one of the world’s largest investment firms, as well as other tenants.
After spraying bullets in the lobby, the gunman took the elevator to the 33rd floor, where real-estate management firm Rudin Management is based, and killed another person – a woman – before turning the gun on himself.
The Rudin family – a New York real estate dynasty – owns the building.
LePatner oversaw businesses with more than $140 billion in assets for Blackstone, where she had worked since 2014
Tamura killed three people in the lobby of the skyscraper -including NYPD officer Didarul Islam, a 36 year-old father of two
The skyscraper in midtown Manhattan (pictured) houses the headquarters for the National Football League on the fifth floor
Those who were trapped inside the building barricaded the doors to prevent Tamura from entering
One man was seriously wounded and remains in critical condition, Mayor Eric Adams said. Four others got minor injuries attempting to flee.
‘We lost four souls to another senseless act of gun violence,’ said Mayor Adams.
The gunman had a ‘documented mental health history,’ according to Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, but his motive was still unknown.
The rampage happened at the end of the workday in the same part of Manhattan where the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare was gunned down outside a hotel late last year.
Tamura’s motive for the massacre remains unclear as of Tuesday morning.
He was found with a letter on his body indicating he had grievances with the NFL and its handling of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) after the rampage at 345 Park Avenue.
‘Terry Long football gave me CTE and it caused me to drink a gallon of antifreeze,’ Tamura wrote, according to CNN. ‘You can’t go against the NFL, they’ll squash you.’
The shooter was referring to former Pittsburgh Steeler Terry Long, who committed suicide by drinking antifreeze in 2006 after suffering from CTE.
Heavily-armed officers were seen rushing into the skyscraper following the shooting
‘Study my brain please I’m sorry Tell Rick I’m sorry for everything,’ the note read.
Blackstone employees shared messages during the rampage saying there was a shooter in the lobby and warning not to go downstairs, an employee told the WSJ.
Some started barricading themselves in their offices and bathrooms.
One of those injured is an NFL employee, commissioner Roger Goodell said in a letter to staff. The employee was reportedly seriously injured but is in stable condition at the hospital.
Surveillance video showed the man exiting a double-parked BMW just before 6.30pm carrying an M4 rifle, then marching across a public plaza into the building. Then, he started firing.
Officers located the bloodied rifle Tamura used, which was found lying on the carpet of the office where the killer took his own life
Tisch said an initial investigation shows the gunman’s vehicle traveled across the country, passing through Colorado on July 26, then Nebraska and Iowa on July 27.
The car was in Columbia, New Jersey, as recently as 4.24pm Monday. He drove into New York City shortly thereafter, she said.
