A young Cornell graduate working at a property management firm has been named as the latest victim of Monday’s mass-shooting at a Manhattan skyscraper.
Julia Hyman, who graduated from Cornell in 2020, was gunned down in the 33rd floor offices of her firm Rudin, where she worked as an associate.
Tragically, Hyman was only shot and killed because gunman Shane Tamura, 27, had gotten in the wrong elevator at 345 Park Avenue.
His intended target had been the National Football League’s New York offices.
Hyman has been named alongside the fourth victim, security guard Aland Etienne. NYPD cop Didarul Islam, 36, was killed in the building’s lobby.
Wesley LePatner, a 43 year-old senior director at Blackstone, was also killed.
Julia Hyman was killed in her office on Monday afternoon after gunman Shane Tamura burst in with an M4 rifle
Tamura walked into the lobby at 345 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan and sprayed a long-form M4 rifle before continuing his spree on the 33rd floor, killing a total of four people
Etienne, the fourth victim to be named, was described as ‘a dedicated security officer who took his job duties extremely seriously’.
32BJ SEIU labor union President Manny Pastreich released the following statement: ‘We are devastated to hear the reports of the shooting at 345 Park Avenue. We extend our deep condolences to the families and friends who lost loved ones tonight, including that of our own 32BJ SEIU security member Aland Etienne.’
Pastreich continued, ‘We have been in touch with Aland Etienne’s family, and are working with building management and the NYPD to support their investigation.’
He added that members in the building will receive free union counseling and support services following this ‘unspeakable loss.’
‘Aland Etienne is a New York hero. We will remember him as such.’
Tamura, who’d driven to New York City from Las Vegas with an M4 rifle, killed himself shortly after shooting Hyman.
The former high school football star had claimed playing the game had given him a brain condition called CTE and had planned an unhinged revenge attack on the NFL.
Tamura was found with a letter on his body indicating he had grievances with the NFL and its handling of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), degenerative brain disease linked to several retired football players.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a memo to staff Tuesday that ‘all of our employees are otherwise safe and accounted for,’ following the shooting at the league’s headquarters in Manhattan.
‘One of our employees was seriously injured in this attack. He is currently in the hospital and in stable condition,’ Goodell said in a memo obtained by ESPN.
‘From our preliminary investigation, he took the wrong elevator bank up to the NFL headquarters,’ Mayor Eric Adams told CBS Mornings.
‘Instead, it took him to Rudin Management, and that is where he carried out additional shootings and took the lives of additional employees.’
Shane Tamura, a 27-year-old licensed private investigator from Las Vegas, has been identified
A police officer and at least six others were injured in the broad daylight attack in New York
The shooter waltzed into the building at around 6.30pm and opened fire, killing a police officer working a corporate security detail and then hitting a woman who tried to take cover as he sprayed the lobby with gunfire.
He then made his way to the elevator bank and shot a guard at a security desk, and shot another man in the lobby.
Witnesses to the deadly shooting recalled the horrifying moment they heard gunshots in the building.
‘We heard multiple shots go off in quick succession from the first floor, and a lot of us just rushed into the room,’ Jessica Chen, who was on the second floor of the 44-story building, told ABC News.
Chen said that she and about 150 other people were taking part in a presentation when Tamura burst into the building and started shooting.
‘Some went out in the back door, out onto the street,’ she said. ‘Other people, including me, we ran into the conference room and then eventually barricaded the tables across the doors and just stayed still.
On the 32nd floor, Blackstone employees used desks and couches to barricade themselves inside their office to hide from the massacre.
KPMG is another company with offices in the building. Audit and advisory firm KPMG said in a statement their office at 345 Park Avenue will be closed on Tuesday.
NYPD cop Didarul Islam (pictured), 36, was killed in the building’s lobby
No KPMG employees were injured in the shooting, according to a post by Chair and CEO Tim Walsh and US Managing Principal Atif Zaim on the company’s LinkedIn page.
‘Our hearts are with the victims of this horrific act and their families, as well as all of our neighbors in 345 Park. This was a terrible, tragic, and frightening event,’ the statement said.
‘We are incredibly grateful for the bravery of building security and law enforcement. At this time, we are not aware of any significant physical injuries to our KPMG colleagues.’
Investment firm Blackstone also closed its Manhattan offices on Tuesday. ‘We are heartbroken to share that our colleague, Wesley LePatner, was among those who lost their lives in the tragic incident at 345 Park Avenue. Words cannot express the devastation we feel,’ the company said in a statement.
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