As the investigation into the Manhattan Midtown shooting case deepens, the police have found that the perpetrator Shane Tamura spent his teenage years in Southern California, where his father was a former police officer in Los Angeles.
According to NBC Los Angeles, on July 29, multiple law enforcement officials revealed that Tamura, who shot and killed four people including a New York City police officer inside a Manhattan skyscraper, was from Las Vegas, Nevada. His father is a retired officer from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) who served for 27 years.
“The Los Angeles Police Department can confirm that Senior Officer Terence Tamura retired in good standing on August 5, 2017,” a LAPD spokesperson told the television station.
It is currently unclear whether the police father was aware of his son’s plans.
Tamura Jr. lived in Southern California while his father worked for the LAPD in 2010. He attended high school in Southern California, where he was a football player. In 2015, he transferred from Golden Valley High School in Santa Clarita to Granada Hills Charter School in Granada Hills as a high school student.
Tamura’s football coach and high school teammates remember him as an excellent football player, described as a quiet but hardworking player who always had a smile on his face.
According to the New York Post, police found seizure medication and antidepressants at Tamura’s home. These medications were discovered during a search of Tamura’s Las Vegas home on July 29, the day after the incident. His home is located in an upscale and quiet community.
Previously, police found another handgun, ammunition, migraine medication, and a note in Tamura’s car. The note stated that he felt he had “thoroughly disappointed” his parents and quoted the name of a football player, Terry Long.
Terry Long was a player for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1984 to 1991. In 2005, he died by consuming antifreeze. It was later revealed by the coroner’s office that chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) was one of the causes of Long’s death.
On the note, Tamura wrote that his brain was injured and blamed the National Football League (NFL), explaining his motive for breaking into the NFL headquarters located at 345 Park Avenue.
“Terry Long, football gave me CTE, it made me drink a gallon of antifreeze; you can’t go against the NFL, they will ruin you,” Tamura wrote. “CTE, chronic brain damage, please study my brain; sorry, tell Rick I’m sorry for everything; computer password: Jack19612; study cte.”