NYC shooter was a high school football player in Southern California

By Haley Sawyer, Sierra Van der Brug and Scott Schwebke, Southern California News Group

The man who fatally shot four people at a New York City office tower Monday, including an off-duty police officer, and wounded a fifth before taking his own life, was a standout high school football player in Southern California before becoming a Las Vegas resident.

Police identified the gunman as Shane Tamura, 27, and said he killed himself. He had a “documented mental health history,” but the motive is still unknown, police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

In Southern California, Tamura played football a decade ago at Golden Valley High School in Santa Clarita before transferring to and playing at Granada Hills Charter High School in the San Fernando Valley.

Tamura was a running back in high school and carried the ball 139 times for 774 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns as a junior at Golden Valley in 2014, according to high school sports website Maxpreps.com. Dan Kelley, who coached Tamura that season, declined to comment.

He transferred to Granada Hills Charter High School of the CIF Los Angeles City Section for his senior season in 2015, where he ran for 616 yards and five touchdowns on 126 carries. He added an additional 229 receiving yards and two touchdowns on 25 catches.

In a Sept. 18, 2015, game in which Granada Hills defeated Kennedy High School, Tamura, a tailback, scored the winning touchdown and was interviewed by the Los Angeles Daily News.

Tamura was a “good, little high school player” who was fast and elusive, according to former L.A. Daily News freelance sports writer Jack Pollon. He added that Tamura didn’t seem to have NFL-level talent.

“He helped his team that year, seemed like he wanted to do well and be a football guy,” Pollon said in a text message to the Southern California News Group.

Despite seeing success at the high school level, Tamura did not have an NCAA recruiting profile on the NCSA College Recruiting website or 247sports.com. Student-athletes typically use both websites to present information and evaluations of themselves.

The CIF Southern Section, CIF L.A. City Section, Golden Valley High School and the William S. Hart District — which Golden Valley is a part of — did not respond to Southern California News Group’s requests for comment.

Granada Hills Charter High School provided the following statement:

“Granada Hills Charter (GHC) is aware of the tragic event in Manhattan involving a former student who attended the 2015 Fall Semester and has had no connection with the school since his withdrawal a decade ago. Because student records are protected under FERPA, we cannot release additional personal or academic information.

We are horrified by the violence in New York. It is heartbreaking, and we extend our deepest sympathies to the victims, their families, and affected communities. Because this remains an active investigation, we are deferring to the NYPD and federal authorities for all further details.”

The statement added that Granada Hills Charter is cooperating with law enforcement and will not be releasing further information.

Walter Roby was Tamura’s running backs coach during his senior year at Granada Hills and recalled him being an athletic back.

“He was very elusive,” Roby told SCNG in a phone call. “Good, stop-on-a-dime, change-of-direction type of runner. Wasn’t burley, where he’s going to bowl you over, but very swift, quick hits, things like that. Probably one of our better runners, definitely, at that time.

“Very humble. He knew he had the athletic ability, but he wouldn’t boast about it. He was that quiet leader that you look for. Very coachable.”

Roby recalled Tamura suffering an ankle injury but did not recall any major hits to his head. Granada Hills Charter, like many other high schools, has protocols in place to protect athletes from head injuries like concussions, and athletic trainers are on hand to spot any signs of injury.

“I’m more in shock than anything else,” Roby said. “And heartfelt for the victims and the victims’ families because they didn’t know anything about this person up until that moment. That’s where I’m at and just trying like everyone else to understand it and deal with it and go from there.”

Records show that after high school, Tamura held a California security guard license from 2019 to 2021.

It was not immediately known when Tamura moved out of Southern California or when he moved to Las Vegas.

Former high school teammate Caleb Clarke told NBC News that Tamura shared that he had been working at a casino in Las Vegas.

Tamura, who never played in the NFL, had a history of mental illness, police said. In a three-page handwritten note found in his wallet, he claimed he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy and accused the NFL of concealing the dangers to players’ brains for profit.

The degenerative brain disease has been linked to concussions and other repeated head trauma common in contact sports such as football, but it can only be diagnosed after someone has died.

In the note, Tamura repeatedly said he was sorry and asked that his brain be studied for CTE, according to the police department. It also referenced former NFL player Terry Long, who was diagnosed with CTE, and the manner in which Long killed himself in 2005.

Andrea Klick, Nathaniel Percy and the Associated Press contributed to this report.