The gunman suspected of targeting National Football League headquarters in New York and killing four was a former standout football player at two Southern California high schools.
Shane Tamura, 27, was a celebrated varsity high school player at Golden Valley High School in Santa Clarita and Granada Hills Charter.
Tamura played football at Golden Valley High School in the Canyon Country neighborhood of Santa Clarita for three years before transferring to Granada Hills Charter School for his senior year in 2015. Tamura did not play for the NFL.
New York Mayor Eric Adams said Tamura appeared to have a grievance with the NFL but ended up on the wrong floor of a skyscraper that houses the sporting league’s headquarters.
‘A hard worker’
Dan Kelley, Golden Valley coach, told The Times that he only remembered Tamura as “a good athlete.” A 2015 Times article quoted Kelley as saying he was expecting “big things” from Tamura and several other players.
In his senior year at Granada Hills, the 5-foot-7, 140-pound player had 126 carries, 600 rushing yards and five touchdowns, according to MaxPreps. He also won several “player of the game” awards. He graduated in 2016, the site said.
Walter Roby, his coach at Granada Hills, told Fox 11 that he was stunned by the news.
“Shane was very quiet. He was a quiet, hard worker. He was coachable. So whatever we asked him to do, he was doing it. He led by, you know, his actions on the field. He was our, you know, one of my top offensive players at the time,” he said. “Could I have done more? Could I help the kid? Could I have reached out to him or could you reach out to me? It’s just a lot of things I’m trying to process right now.”
A 2015 video that circulated on social media Monday night showed Tamura as a high school football player celebrating a win for the Granada Hills Highlanders.
In a post-game interview after a 35-31 win over Kennedy High, Tamura was hailed as a “standout running back” by a reporter from the Los Angeles Daily News and asked how the team came through.
“We definitely had to stay disciplined,” Tamura said, noting the team was down 10-0 in the first quarter. “Our coach kept saying, ‘Don’t hold your heads down. Don’t hold your heads down.’ … We just had to stay disciplined and come together as a team.”
Tamura scored several touchdowns, the reporter noted, including a pivotal one in the fourth quarter with less than four minutes to go.
But even though Tamura gained recognition as he played in nine games in his senior season at Granada Hills, he became academically ineligible and missed the team’s final two games, according to MaxPreps.
The initial investigation indicates that Tamura had traveled from Las Vegas to New York, driving a black BMW across the country over the weekend.
Law enforcement said that officers searched the vehicle the gunman had double-parked on Park Avenue between 51st and 52nd streets and found a rifle case with rounds, a loaded revolver, ammunition and magazines, a backpack and medication prescribed to Tamura. No explosives were inside.
‘So shocking’
Granada Hills teammate Anthony Michael Leon told NBC News: “This is so shocking. I’m telling you, this was one of those kids who never exerted bad energy or a negative attitude.”
“He was quiet, but when he did actually talk, people listened,” Leon added.
In recent years, Tamura was living in Nevada where he worked as a security guard at Horseshoe Las Vegas hotel and casino.
A path to mass shooting
The initial investigation indicates that Tamura had traveled from Las Vegas to New York, driving a BMW cross-country through Colorado, Nebraska and New Jersey over the weekend.
Law enforcement said that officers searched the vehicle that the gunman left double parked on Park Avenue between 51st and 52nd streets and found a rifle case with rounds, a loaded revolver, ammunition and magazines, a backpack and medication prescribed to Tamura. No explosives were inside.
“Mr. Tamura has a documented mental health history,” New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday night at a news conference, citing Las Vegas law enforcement. “His motives are still under investigation, and we are working to understand why he targeted this particular location.”
In the three-page handwritten note, Tamura, who never played in the NFL and has no record of playing football in college, appeared to blame the sport for his problems. He referenced former Pittsburgh Steelers player Terry Long, who died by suicide after drinking antifreeze in 2005, and expressed grievances with the NFL.
“Football gave me CTE and it caused me to drink a gallon of antifreeze,” the gunman allegedly wrote. “You can’t go against the NFL, they’ll squash you.”
“Study my brain please,” the note added. “The league knowingly concealed the dangers to our brains to maximize profits. They failed us.”
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