The gunman who killed a police officer and three other people at a Midtown Manhattan office building on Monday bought his AR-15-style rifle for $1,400 from the man who supervised him at his job at the Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas, New York police officials said on Wednesday.
The police did not say during their briefing whether the sale of the weapon to the gunman, Shane Devon Tamura, 27, was illegal, but said the seller had been cooperating with investigators and was not being charged in New York.
Mr. Tamura left a suicide note in his Las Vegas studio apartment, where investigators also found anti-psychotic prescription medication, the police told reporters at the briefing.
Mr. Tamura’s note, which was read to reporters, was addressed to his parents.
“When I look into you and Dad’s eyes, all I see is disappointment,” he wrote. “I love you Mama. I’m sorry.”
The new details released on Wednesday emerged as New York Police Department investigators remained in Las Vegas, talking to Mr. Tamura’s co-workers, friends and family members. They also planned to search Mr. Tamura’s locker at the Horseshoe Casino.
The officers were seeking to learn more about Mr. Tamura’s mental health and what had led him to New York City on Monday afternoon, when he strode into the office building and began shooting.
Mr. Tamura’s boss also sold him the black BMW that he drove from Las Vegas to New York before the attack.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that Mr. Tamura had been scheduled to work on Sunday, but never showed up. By that time, he had already driven through Colorado and was on his way to New York City.
The police said Mr. Tamura received two phone calls while he was making his way east. One came at 7:41 p.m. on Sunday from Geneseo, Ill. The next day, he got a call at 5:19 p.m. — about an hour before the shooting — from someone in Parsippany, N.J.
Both calls were under a minute long, the police said. The police would not disclose the callers’ names but said their identities were known to investigators.
Back in his Las Vegas apartment, investigators found various pills prescribed to Mr. Tamura, including anti-epileptic and anti-inflammatory medications.
They also found a tripod, a single rifle round, about 100 bullets for a 9-millimeter firearm and an empty box for a revolver. That revolver was found in the BMW.
Mr. Tamura, who played high school football, was targeting the offices of the National Football League at 345 Park Avenue, Mayor Eric Adams said. But he got off on the wrong floor — the 33rd, which houses the offices of Rudin Management, the company that owns the building. There, he killed a Rudin employee, Julia Hyman, 27. He then shot himself in the chest.
Officers found a three-page letter in his wallet soon after the shooting that referred to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., a brain disease that has afflicted people who play contact sports. The note accused the N.F.L. of hiding the dangers of football to maximize profits.
In it, Mr. Tamura apologized to the man who had sold him the gun and begged doctors to use his brain for C.T.E. research.
“Study my brain please,” the note said. “I’m sorry.”
Maria Cramer is a Times reporter covering the New York Police Department and crime in the city and surrounding areas.
Chelsia Rose Marcius is a criminal justice reporter for The Times, covering the New York Police Department.
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