A shooter who killed four people in Manhattan on Monday before taking his own life was looking to target the NFL headquarters, NYC mayor Eric Adams indicated.
Adams said investigators believe the shooter accidentally entered the wrong set of elevator banks as he tried to get to the NFL offices after he shot multiple people in the lobby of an office building.
Four people were killed in addition to the shooter. According to the NFL’s Roger Goodell, a league employee was critically injured in the shooting and hospitalized in stable condition.
A note was found on the shooter in which he claimed to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and requested that his brain be studied. He appeared to blame the NFL. The shooter played high school football in California years ago but never played in the NFL.
CTE, a type of brain damage, has become a prominent concern for football players. Past research from Boston University found CTE in 345 out of 376 deceased NFL players who were studied.
Since brain bank samples are subject to selection biases, the data shouldn’t be interpreted to mean that 91.7 percent of all current and former NFL players have CTE, the school clarified. Still, the study raised alarm bells.
CTE can only be diagnosed after death. It’s unknown if the shooter suffered from CTE. His brain will be examined as part of his autopsy.
The NFL offices are on the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth floors of the 44-story building. The shooter is said to have taken the elevator to the 33rd floor, where he then killed another person before taking his own life. It doesn’t seem like the 33rd floor was his intended destination.
More information may become available as the investigation continues. All the victims have been identified. Hopefully, sufficient answers can be found as it relates to the attack.
