The mass shooter who suspected he had CTE when he killed four people and himself in a Manhattan office building in July did in fact have the degenerative brain disease, the New York City medical examiner said on Friday.
Shane Tamura, who was 27 and played football in high school, had “unambiguous diagnostic evidence” of low-stage chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the medical examiner found. The condition, which can only be diagnosed posthumously, is caused by repeated exposure to head trauma and is most commonly associated in the US with tackle football players, in particular those who have made it to the NFL.
The medical examiner “found unambiguous diagnostic evidence of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE, in the brain tissue of the decedent,” the statement read. “The findings correspond with the classification of low-stage CTE, according to current consensus criteria.”
The medical examiner conducted a brain examination as part of Tamura’s criminal autopsy after authorities found a note left by the attacker at the scene of the 28 July shooting, in which he expressed anger that his mental troubles may have been linked to playing football and requesting his brain be studied for CTE.
Tamura claimed he had a traumatic brain injury and blamed the NFL for “concealing the dangers to players’ brains to maximize profits”. “Study my brain please. I’m sorry,” he wrote.
Though he never played in the NFL, authorities said Tamura, who drove across the country from Las Vegas to New York, was targeting the NFL headquarters, which are located on a different floor of the Park Avenue building where the shooting took place.
Four people were killed in the shooting: a security guard at 345 Park Avenue, an executive at Blackstone, a police officer and an employee at Rudin Management.
While CTE is most commonly associated with professional athletes such as former football players, boxers and hockey players, it has also been found in student athletes, including those who did not play sports after high school or college.
Evidence over the years has surfaced that collisions between players, which are routine in tackle football – even those that don’t appear to be as graphic as others – can be devastating to the health of the athletes.
Tamura played high school football in California about a decade ago. His family previously said he suffered from migraines and mental illness, as well as multiple concussions.
Dr Ann McKee, the director of the Boston University CTE Center, who has studied the brains of thousands of athletes, soldiers and others exposed to brain trauma, has said that little is known about the link between violent impulsive behavior and CTE – and that more studies must be done.
She recently told the New York Times: “There is damage to the frontal lobes, which can damage decision making and judgment. It can also cause impulsivity and rage behaviors, so it’s possible that there’s some connection between brain injury and these behaviors.”
The medical examiner’s findings add: “The science around this condition continues to evolve, and the physical and mental manifestations of CTE remain under study.”
