CTE: Brain disease linked to head impacts in sport ‘could have contributed’ to Manhattan mass shooting
The man who shot dead four people inside a New York City skyscraper had left a note claiming he had CTE, a brain disease that has been linked to American football.
It’s believed the gunman, 27-year-old Shane Tamura, was targeting the headquarters of the NFL but took the wrong lift.
The NFL occupies floors five to eight in the skyscraper – but Tamura ended up on floor 33.
He had driven from Las Vegas, almost the breadth of the country, to reach 345 Park Avenue, in the heart of midtown Manhattan.
CTE can only be diagnosed by studying the brain after death, but in a three-page note discovered by police, Tamura made repeated references to the condition.
In his note, which was written on notepad paper and using a variety of ink, he writes: “CTE study my brain please. I’m sorry.”
And again: “Please study brain for CTE. I’m sorry.”
He also refers to Terry Long, a former NFL player who starred for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was diagnosed with CTE after drinking anti-freeze to take his own life 20 years ago.
Of course, there can be no conceivable justification to commit such a horrific act.
But the attacker’s note will bolster calls for more investigation into a possible link between head injuries on the football field and violent crime.
Tamura never played for the NFL but had a very successful high school career in Southern California and was well liked by his coaches and teammates.
Shane Tamura shot dead four people in New York this week. Pic: NYPD
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Four dead in New York shooting
It’s not known what he did after high school, however he seemed to harbour animosity towards the NFL.
“The league knowingly concealed the dangers to our brains to maximize profits,” he writes in his note. “They failed us.”
A Sky News investigation last year explored the link between CTE and violent attacks, including mass murder.
We looked at the case of Noah Green, who was 25 when he crashed into a security cordon protecting the Capitol Building in Washington DC and stabbed police officer William Evans, killing him, before he was shot dead.
It was a murder which seemed to have little to do with American football.
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Is there a link to CTE and crime?
But Green’s mother, Mazie, told me she believes his crime was caused by brain injuries sustained on the American football field.
He had been a star player in high school but she said his personality changed after repeated concussions.
“He started these bad headaches. Real bad headaches,” she said
“He’s like, ‘I’ve got to get out of the country. They’re going to kill me’.”
Mazie believes Noah was suffering paranoia.
After his death, the FBI recommended that his brain be examined. The diagnosis came back as stage 1 Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE.
It is a disease caused by repetitive head trauma. Symptoms include paranoia, aggression and impulse control problems.
Phillip Adams shot dead six people in 2021 – and had CTE. Pic: AP
The theory of a link between CTE and violent crime is increasingly cited in court.
Kellen Winslow, a former NFL player, argued for his sentence for multiple rapes to be reduced because of head trauma on the football field.
Former San Francisco 49ers star Phillip Adams shocked the country when he shot dead six people, including grandparents and their two grandchildren, then himself, in 2021. He had severe CTE.
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Brain banks, including the National Sports Brain Bank in Pittsburgh, ask former footballers to donate their brains for study after death.
Dr Julia Kofler told me she can’t rule out a link between CTE and violent crime.
“It’s really difficult to draw any conclusions about what motivates someone to commit a crime based just on their pathology,” she said.
“We certainly know that neurodegenerative diseases can cause all sorts of different, behavioural changes and changes in executive function and judgment. So it certainly could have contributed.”
The horrific mass murder committed by Shane Tamura, coupled with ramblings about CTE in the note he left behind, will intensify calls for further scrutiny of safety precautions that might be taken in contact sports.