Among those in a Manhattan office tower were an executive from an investment firm and an off-duty New York City police officer.
Didarul Islam, the officer, was on a corporate security detail Monday at the NFL’s headquarters and Blackstone, one of the biggest investment corporations in the world. Wesley LePatner, a senior managing director with a real estate focus, was shot and killed, according to Blackstone. According to his trade union, security guard Aland Etienne was also killed.
Suggested Videos
At the request of family members, the Rudin family, who own the building and Rudin Management, announced in a statement that one of their employees was a victim of the shootings but did not reveal the individual’s name. According to police, a woman was discovered dead in Rudin’s offices on the 33rd level of the building.
In a note to employees, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stated that while all other employees were safe, one employee at the league’s headquarters was gravely injured and in stable condition at a hospital. He did not identify the individual.
The shooter, who was identified by authorities as Shane Tamura of Las Vegas, is thought to have taken the wrong elevator. According to Mayor Eric Adams, police discovered a note indicating that he had a grievance against the NFL regarding a claim that he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain illness that can’t be diagnosed until death but has been connected to concussions in contact sports. It had been almost twenty years since he had played football in high school in California.
The policeman had been employed for three years.
According to officials, Islam, who had been a police officer in New York City for three and a half years, lived with his family and worked out of a Bronx station. According to police commissioner Jessica Tisch, the 36-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant was married, had two small sons, and was expecting a third.
According to Tisch, the gunman shot Islam in the lobby of the building right away.
He was carrying out the task we requested of him. He exposed himself to danger. She claimed that he made the ultimate sacrifice. He was a hero when he passed away.
Islam’s home was visited by well-wishers on Tuesday, several of whom brought takeaway for the family members gathering there. A sign lauding Islam as a wonderful parent and NYPD hero was put up across the street at a public school where one or more of his children were enrolled. His mosque acquaintances also came to pay their respects.
Tanjim Talukdar, who knew him best from Friday prayers, said he was a very amiable and diligent man who usually received a greeting when they crossed paths in the street. Every time he sees me or I see him, he asks, “How are you, my brother?”
“The news really caught me off guard,” he remarked.
The Blackstone executive was a real estate specialist and Yale graduate.
According to the company, LePatner, 43, was the CEO of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust and the worldwide head of core plus real estate. After over ten years at Goldman Sachs, where she also handled real estate, she joined the company in 2014.
The firm stated she served on the boards of multiple organizations, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, after earning a bachelor’s degree in history with honors from Yale University in 2003. According to a company statement, she was intelligent, passionate, kind, giving, and highly respected. Executives and other staff members expressed their sadness at her passing.
The family of LePatner expressed their sorrow and requested that their privacy be respected during their time of loss. Other families who lost loved ones in the tragedy were also given their sympathies.
They added in a statement that “we cannot adequately express the grief we feel upon the sudden and tragic loss of Wesley.” She enhanced our lives in every way possible and was the most devoted wife, mother, daughter, sister, and relative. She was a passionate, incredibly talented professional and colleague, as well as a cherished, passionately loyal, and compassionate friend to countless others.
In a Facebook post, author Bruce Feiler expressed his shock, sadness, and rage over LePatner’s passing. He said that they were on the same Yale board.
He stated, “At 43, she was the most impressive and effortless person, and you wanted to follow her wherever she went.” In every sense, she felt like the kind of leader we all need and want in these troubling times. She was a mentor to young women and a giving friend to everyone who knew her. She served on the board of her children’s Jewish day school and most recently joined the board of The Met.
A union hails a security officer as a hero in New York.
“Etienne’s death speaks to the sacrifice of security officers who risk their lives every day to keep New Yorkers and our buildings safe,” said Manny Pastreich, president of Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, in a statement released on Tuesday.
Security personnel risk their lives each time they don their uniform. Despite frequently going unnoticed, their contributions to our community are vital. One of the heroes of New York is Aland Etienne. Pastreich remarked, “We will remember him as such.”
According to the union, Etienne has been employed at the facility since 2019 and briefly worked there in 2017. According to state records, Etienne has held an unarmed security guard license since 2017.
According to Pastreich, the union was providing free counseling and support services to union members and assisting police and building management with the inquiry. According to him, the building was occupied at the time by other union commercial cleaners and security personnel.
___
This report was written by David Martin and Cedar Attanasio of the Associated Press.
