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"They Only Take The Very Best Among Us": People React To Shooting Of Beloved NYPD Cop In Rampage
An NYPD officer was “protecting New Yorkers from danger” when he lost his life in a violent rampage in a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper.
Didarul Islam was one of four victims fatally shot by a lone gunman who barged into the 44-story building and opened fire on Monday, July 28.
He “put himself in harm’s way” and “made the ultimate sacrifice,” authorities said.
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Highlights
- NYPD officer Didarul Islam “put himself in harm’s way” during the Manhattan skyscraper rampage.
- He was the first victim claimed by gunman Shane Tamura.
- Didarul had two children, and his wife is eight months pregnant with their third child.
- “He put himself in harm’s way. He made the ultimate sacrifice—shot in cold blood,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
NYPD officer Didarul Islam “put himself in harm’s way” during the Manhattan skyscraper rampage
Image credits: theykilledk3nny/Reddit
Trigger warning: contains graphic details that may be distressing to some.
Las Vegas resident Shane Tamura sparked mayhem in Manhattan when he entered the office building with an M4 assault rifle at around 6:40 p.m.
Blackstone and the NFL headquarters are located in the building.
The suspect launched a volley of shots and first gunned down officer Didarul Islam, 36, an off-duty NYPD officer who was working his second job as security for Rudin Management Company in the building.
He was in his NYPD uniform when he was senselessly shot.
Image credits: Kyle Mazza/Anadolu
After shooting Didarul, Shane found a woman hiding behind a pillar and shot her before walking towards the elevator.
He then fatally shot another security guard cowering at his desk.
A woman who walked out of the elevator was spared.
Shane took the elevator and went all the way up to the 33rd floor, where building owner Rudin Properties’ offices are located.
Didarul leaves behind his two children and his wife, pregnant with their third child
Image credits: NYPD/Facebook
The gunman then began “to walk the floor, firing as he traveled” and shot another victim. He then shot himself in the chest and fell to the ground.
Officers found his body splayed on the floor with the blood-stained rifle next to him.
A fifth person was shot and taken to hospital in critical but stable condition.
Didarul “made the ultimate sacrifice—shot in cold blood,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said
Image credits: Md Fazla Alahi/Facebook
Didarul was one of the four victims claimed in the rampage. He had served as an NYPD officer since 2021.
The immigrant from Bangladesh leaves behind two children and his wife, who is pregnant with their third child.
The couple was preparing to welcome their newborn in a month.
Image credits: New York Post
The slain officer loved New York and “was a person of faith,” Mayor Eric Adams said.
“He was a true-blue New Yorker not only in the uniform he wore, but in his spirit and energy of loving his city,” the mayor said in a statement.
“Early tonight, I met with the officer’s family and told them he was a hero and we admire him for putting his life on the line,” he added.
Officers found the lone shooter’s body splayed on the floor with a blood-stained rifle next to him
Image credits: BNODesk
“He was protecting New Yorkers from danger when his life was tragically cut short today,” the NYPD said.
The department said they would “forever honor” Didarul’s legacy.
“He put himself in harm’s way. He made the ultimate sacrifice—shot in cold blood,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
A woman named Jessica Chen was watching a presentation on the second floor with 150 other people when she began hearing gunshots from the first floor.
“We heard multiple shots go off in quick succession from the first floor, and a lot of us just rushed into the room,” she said.
People scrambled about for safety, while she and a few others stayed in the conference room and used furniture to block the door.
“Some went out in the back door, out onto the street. Other people, including me, we ran into the conference room and then eventually barricaded the tables across the doors and just stayed still,” she said.
“I texted my parents ‘I love them,’” said a woman who heard the shots coming from the first floor
Image credits: NBC News
“I texted my parents ‘I love them,’” she added. “Nothing can describe that feeling.”
Officers revealed that the gunman had emerged from a double-parked BMW in front of the office building and entered the lobby alone.
Image credits: FreshGoal4500/Reddit
Shane’s vehicle had a backpack, loaded revolver, a rifle case with rounds, ammunition and magazines, and medication prescribed to the shooter.
He had a “documented mental health history,” authorities revealed.
The motive behind the shooting is still being investigated.
A former high school classmate described the shooter as the “class clown”
Image credits: NBC News
Shane’s former high school classmate said he was a promising football player and athlete when they were young. But a decade later, Shane wasn’t living the life people imagined for him.
“He was the biggest goofball in the world, just a ton of energy, class clown,” Caleb Clarke told NBC News. “Just one of those guys, he’s got so much going for him. Just figure out the whole school thing, and he could be somebody great.”
Image credits: FreshGoal4500/Reddit
Caleb remembered Shane as the “fastest kid” he’s ever met and said people in high school expected him to play in NFL games someday.
“I don’t think he walked around to be like, ‘Oh, I’ll have NFL games one day,’” he recalled.
“I think it was more of everybody just telling him how great he was … And then, after high school, you know, didn’t see from him that much and didn’t hear from him that much, because he wasn’t on the field,” he continued.
Shane was described as a promising athlete, and people in high school imagined he would play NFL games someday
Image credits: NBC News
Caleb said he lost touch with Shane but reconnected with him recently on social media. He said his classmate was working at a Las Vegas casino at the time.
“You never would have thought violence was something you’d associate with him,” he added. “Everything he said was a joke.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with self-harm or thoughts of ending their own life, help is available: International Hotlines
“Words can’t describe how heinously his life was taken away,” one netizen commented after Didarul Islam and three others were fatally shot
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