- Time and place were deliberately chosen to maximize visibility. The assault was conducted in a public setting in the middle of rush hour.[1] There was no attempt to hide the crime. On the contrary, it was contrived purely for attention. Rampageous assailants carefully select the locale, not spontaneously, as some suppose, or for symbolic value, as many assume, but to garner as much attention as possible. When James Holmes, the assailant in Auroa Colorado, who killed twelve and injured at least seventy at a midnight movie showing of The Dark Knight Rises,[2] was on trial, the district attorney reminded the Jury,[3] “He was just looking for a blockbuster, right? … Had this been Jurassic World, he’d have been there. Had it been Avengers: Endgame, he’d have been there.”[4]
- The killings were not only planned, they were orchestrated demonstrations of resentment. Shane Devon Tamura drove from Las Vegas to New York City, a journey taking more than two days, to arrive at the site where he intended to show the world he had been harmed.[5] The motive, which is the term law enforcement prefers, was not to correct a wrong, or to gain vengeance, but to show the public at large that he was damaged. As part of his three page suicide letter, Tamura self-diagnosed himself with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head injuries.[6] He pled, “Please study brain for CTE.”[7]
- The killer penned an apologia announcing his perception of his own victimization. Most autogenic killers issue a statement proximate to their attack to rationalize their actions. The rationalization, though, is primarily predicated upon a long-standing set of perceived injustices. The characteristics of these glorified apologies – sometimes, inaccurately, called manifestos in the press – are delineated, with numerous examples, in How Rampage Killers Interpret Their Worlds.[8]With respect to Tamura, the grudge was related to his belief that he had sustained a chronic brain injury and authorities responsible for protecting his well-being had been willfully negligent. “The league [referring to the National Football League (NFL)] knowingly concealed the dangers to our brains to maximize profits. … They failed us.”[9] Rampage murderers blame circumstances or the actions of others for their discontent and the crime is deliberately structured to dramatize their grievances.
- The victims were aligned with the desire for visibility as well as the killer’s perception of his own victimization. The targets in a rampage, as explained in How Rampage Killers Interpret Their Worlds are chosen based on long-standing complaints as well as ease of access and only appear arbitrary to observers.[10] As far as Tamura was concerned, his victims were not people in the wrong place at the wrong time, but villains occupying enemy terrain, that is the Midtown Manhattan building housing the NFL.[11]
- It was a suicide mission from the beginning. His mother had repeatedly called 911 because she feared for his life and on at least one occasion told the operator he had threatened to kill himself.[12] It was reported that he had, on two previous occasions, been retained on “crisis hold,” a confinement of up to 48 hours when a person has been assessed as a danger to himself or others.[13] The casual visibility, almost flaunting, of his weapon captured on camera as he approached the office building is demonstrative of his kamikaze mind set.[14] After entering the premises Tamura expended most of two 30-round magazines in a matter of a few minutes. He then “held out his arms to aim the rifle at his own chest and used his thumb to pull the trigger, firing a single round,” taking his own life.[15] Autogenic attacks often end with the killer intentionally committing suicide or with neutralization by police (still suicide, but by cop).[16] These episodes are not mass killings followed by the perpetrator killing himself or herself as an expression of regret, they are, instead, extravagant self-productions enacting a death wish.
[1] John Miller and Jeff Winter, “New Details Highlight Harrowing Minutes Inside Manhattan Office Building as Mass Shooting Unfolded,” Cable News Network (CNN), updated August 3, 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/03 /us/manhattan-shooting-timeline-911-calls.
[2] Christopher Nolan, dir. and writ., Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer, writs. (USA: Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures, DC Entertainment, Syncopy Inc., 2012).
[3] History.com Editors, “Aurora Shooting Leaves 12 Dead, 70 Wounded,” History, posted December 2, 2013, updated July 19, 2021, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/12-people-killed-70-wounded-in-colorado-movie-theater-shooting.
[4] George Brauchler, in Yohana Desta, “The Joker Didn’t Inspire the Aurora Shooter, but the Rumor Won’t Go Away,” Vanity Fair, posted October 2, 2019, https://www. vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/10/joker-aurora-shooting-rumor.
[5] Miller and Winter, “New Details Highlight Harrowing Minutes.”
[6] Karissa Waddick and James Powel, “Who Was Shane Tamura? What We Know about the Manhattan Shooting Suspect,” USA Today, updated July 29, 2025, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/07/29/shane-tamura-manhattan-gunman-details/85418714007/; Mayo Clinic Staff, “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy,” Mayo Clinic, posted June 25, 2025, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy/symptoms-causes/syc-20370921.
[7] Tamura, final note, as quoted in Joe Marino and Emily Crane, “NYC Shooter Shane Tamura’s Apparent Suicide Note Reveals He Admired CTE Documentary and Prominent Neuroscientists: Sources,” New York Post, published July 29, 2025, https://nypost.com/2025/07/29/us-news/nyc-shooter-shane-tamura-thanked-a-cte-documentary-and-listed-names-of-prominent-neuroscientists-in-suicide-note-sources/.
[8] S. Lee Funk (Washington D.C: Academica Press, 2024), 132, 160-177, 180.
[9] Tamura, final note, as quoted in Marino and Crane, “NYC Shooter Shane Tamura’s Apparent Suicide.”
[10] Funk, 98-115, 155-160.
[11] Zoe Hussain, “Trove of Shane Tamura’s Newly Released Records Shed Light on Midtown Shooter’s Disturbing Mental Health History,” New York Post, posted August 5, 2025, https://nypost.com/2025/08/05/us-news/nyc-midtown-shooter-shane-tamura-suffered-from-sports-related-concussion-mom-told-vegas-cops/; Marino and Crane, “NYC Shooter Shane Tamura’s Apparent Suicide.”
[12] Hussain, “Trove of Shane Tamura’s Newly Released Records.”
[13] Reena Roy, in American Broadcasting Companies (ABC) News, “What We Know about Shane Devon Tamura, The Suspect of the New York City Shooting,” broadcast by 6abc Philadelphia, YouTube, posted [July 30?], 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc1sh4_IaTU.
[14] New York Post image, in Hussain, “Trove of Shane Tamura’s Newly Released Records.”
[15] New York Police Department Official, in John Miller and Jeff Winter, “New Details Highlight Harrowing Minutes Inside Manhattan Office Building as Mass Shooting Unfolded,” CNN, updated August 3, 202, https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/03/us/manhattan-shooting-timeline-911-calls.
[16] Funk, How Rampage Killers Interpret, 218-227.