NEW YORK (AP) — Coaches and players around the NFL expressed their sadness and condolences on Tuesday after a gunman killed four people at the league’s Manhattan office a day earlier.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the gunman was attempting to reach the league’s part of the building but took the wrong elevator. An NFL employee was among those wounded, according to Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Multiple coaches, including Aaron Glenn of the New York Jets and Brian Daboll of the Giants, opened their news conferences by referencing the shooting. Glenn said he wished it were a better morning, and Daboll called it a tragic event at 345 Park Ave.
“Just want to start out addressing the senseless violence that happened in New York,” Atlanta Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “Just send our thoughts and prayers to everybody involved, including one of our own.”
Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid said his and his staff’s thoughts go out to the people affected.
“The people at the league office that had to go through all that,” Reid said. “It’s a bad deal. We’ve got to try to keep peace somewhere here. There’s too much of this.”
Goodell said in a memo to staff that a league employee was seriously injured in the attack and was hospitalized in stable condition.
“We are deeply grateful to the law enforcement officers who responded to this threat quickly and decisively and to Officer Islam, who gave his life to protect others,” said Goodell, referring to Didarul Islam, an off-duty police officer working a corporate security detail who was killed in the attack.
Goodell praised the swift law enforcement response and honored Islam. NFL employees in New York were instructed to work remotely Tuesday or take the day off, he said, and additional security will be in place.
“Every one of you is a valued member of the NFL family,” Goodell said. “We will get through this together.”
Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson said the shooting “keeps things in perspective as we enter training camp and the guys are going hard that there’s a little bit more to life than just football.”
Investigators believe Shane Tamura, of Las Vegas, was trying to get to the NFL offices after shooting several people Monday in the building’s lobby but accidentally entered the wrong set of elevator banks, Adams said.
“It’s always tough to hear things like that and really to try to stay focused,” Glenn said. “You have to because you have a job to do, but you think about the families that go through that and it’s tough.”
Police said Tamura had a history of mental illness, and a rambling note found on his body suggested that he had a grievance against the NFL over a claim that he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease that can be diagnosed only after someone has died.
Tamura played high school football in California nearly two decades ago but never in the NFL.
Daboll said he had not had any conversations with players or staff about the situation or if they were concerned for their safety. Kicker Graham Gano, the Giants’ union representative, watched coverage of the shooting at the practice facility late Monday, learned of the connection to the league early Tuesday and did not express any worry about he and his teammates.
“Our security staff here is fantastic,” Gano said. “It’s sad to see no matter who it is, league office or not. It’s definitely really sad, but I think we’re fully confident in our security team here.
Three-time Tennessee Titans Pro Bowl defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons saw reports of the shooting Tuesday morning. With an 8 a.m. local time practice, he didn’t have the chance to read up on the attack, but Simmons said that’s why mental health is one of the things brought up in football circles these days.
“Mental health is a big thing in this world, and it’s our job, especially in this building,” Simmons said. “One thing we talked about as the leaders you never know when a guy’s last day may be in this building or he could be on this team forever. So, I just want to treat everybody the same.”
Cleveland Browns owner Dee Haslam expressed her sympathies to the victims of the “horrendous acts” in New York during her opening remarks at training camp on Tuesday.
“I would be remiss if we didn’t start out acknowledging what happened yesterday at the NFL headquarters,” Haslam said, flanked by her husband, Jimmy. “Our thoughts and prayers are with all the families that have lost their loved ones and we honor the policeman that also died in the line of duty, and our prayers are with the ones that are injured.”
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AP Pro Football Writers Rob Maaddi in Tampa, Florida, and Dennis Waszak in Florham Park, New Jersey; AP Sports Writers Stephen Whyno in East Rutherford, New Jersey; Teresa M. Walker in Nashville, Tennessee; Charles Odum in Flowery Branch, Georgia; and Dave Skretta in St. Joseph, Missouri and AP freelance writer Tom Withers in Berea, Ohio, contributed to this report.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
