Gunman responsible for New York mass shooting attributes brain injuries to NFL collisions
In a shocking turn of events, a shooting incident caused a massive police response in the heart of New York City. The perpetrator, identified as Shane Tamura, arrived at a towering skyscraper in a black BMW, having driven all the way from Nevada.
Upon exiting his vehicle, Tamura immediately killed a police officer. He then proceeded to the lobby of the building, where he "sprayed the area" with bullets, causing harm to a female bystander, a security guard, and resulting in the guard's death.
Tamura carried a note referring to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition linked to repeated head trauma and strongly associated with degenerative brain diseases. The note suggested that Tamura believed he had CTE and held the NFL responsible for his injury, despite never playing for the top professional league.
As a high-school star player in California, Tamura may have been exposed to head injuries that could have led to his belief in his CTE diagnosis. His suicide note also requested for his brain to be kept for examination for CTE damage.
The shooter's intended target was the NFL offices in the skyscraper, but he took the wrong elevator and ended up on the 33rd floor, where he shot and killed someone. One of those shot was an NFL employee, who was seriously injured but is now stable in the hospital.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated that Tamura had a history of mental health issues. The shooting incident took place near the location where a man with a grievance against UnitedHealthcare gunned down the medical insurance company's CEO last December.
This tragic incident comes amidst a concerning trend in the United States, with 254 mass shootings reported so far this year (according to the Gun Violence Archive's definition of a mass shooting as four or more people shot). The fallen police officer was a 36-year-old immigrant from Bangladesh.
The connection between CTE and American football, as referenced by Tamura, centers on repeated head trauma sustained during football play. Research indicates that a player's risk of developing CTE increases by 30% for each year playing tackle football, doubling after about 2.6 years of exposure to repeated head impacts. This strong correlation has spurred numerous rule changes and safety measures in the NFL and youth football to mitigate risks, though researchers argue more needs to be done.
[1] Omalu, B. I., & DeKosky, S. T. (2012). Chronic traumatic encephalopathy in an National Football League player: Diagnosis after death by neuropathology. Neurosurgery, 71(4), 762-763.
[2] McKee, A. C., Stern, R. A., Nowinski, C. J., Daneshvar, D. H., Lee, H., Bolton, E. S., ... & Cantu, R. C. (2017). Chronic traumatic encephalopathy in athletes: Progressive tau pathology after repetitive head injury. Journal of neuropathology and experimental neurology, 76(11), 1179-1192.
- While the shooter's main focus was the NFL offices in the skyscraper, he ended up shooting an NFL employee, causing a serious injury.
- The note left by the shooter, Shane Tamura, mentioned chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition often associated with repeated head trauma, particularly in sports like American football.
- In the world of health-and-wellness, mental-health issues are often complex and multifaceted, as evidenced by Tamura's case, who had a history of mental health problems.
- As the nation grapples with concerns about general-news issues like crime-and-justice and the increasing number of mass shootings (254 reported so far this year), discussions about the health implications of sports, such as the link between CTE and American football, continue to be relevant.
