NYC NOW - Morning Headlines: Midtown Shooting Leaves Four Dead, States Sue Over SNAP Data Collection, and City Warns Outdoor Workers During Heat Wave

Episode Date: July 29, 2025

Four people, including an NYPD officer, were killed in a Midtown office shooting Monday night before the gunman turned the weapon on himself. Meanwhile, more than a dozen states, including New York and New Jersey, are suing the federal government over a new requirement to collect personal data from food stamp recipients. Also, city officials are warning outdoor workers to stay safe as a heat wave pushes temperatures into the mid-90s. Plus An investigation is underway after the Midtown office building shooting, WNYC’s Brittany Kriegstein has the latest on the suspect.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Tuesday, July 29th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. Officials are saying four people died, including an NYPD officer after a gumman opened fire last night in a midtown office building. Police say the shooter killed himself. Authorities have identified the first victim as 36-year-old officer, Dideroole, Islam, an immigrant. from Bangladesh who worked in the 47th precinct in the Bronx. Mayor Adams says Islam was a father of two with a third child on the way.

He was doing what he does best in all members of the police department carry out. He was saving lives. He was protecting New Yorkers. One other person is hospitalized in critical condition. Police say the shooter at this stage, as far as I know, acted alone. More than a dozen states, including New York and New Jersey, Jersey are suing the Trump administration over its efforts to collect the personal information of SNAP enrollees.

The Attorney's General, Leading the complaint, say the request for the personal data of people receiving or applying for food stamps violates basic privacy laws. The USDA, which oversees SNAP, told states they had until Wednesday to hand over the information, which includes people's social security numbers and immigration status or risk losing federal funding. New York State Attorney General Letitia James says the Trump administration is trying to use a program that feeds families as a way to hunt down immigrants. Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for SNAP, but they can apply on behalf of their citizen children. The Trump administration declined to comment on pending litigation.

City officials say outdoor workers should take special precautions in this week's heat wave as temperatures reach the mid-90s but feel way out of the dam. That includes drinking plenty of water, wearing light, loose-fitting clothes, and taking breaks in the shade or indoors in air conditioning. For many city workers, avoiding extreme heat altogether is not an option. The city controller's office says about a third of them spend a significant part of their shifts outside. Anhel Matute was working on a construction site yesterday in Brooklyn afternoon. I've seen a many people who have to be dry and so much. Latute says he's seen a lot of people faint on the job, and that's why he hydrates a lot.

He also says he tries to conserve his energy on hot days to avoid getting sick. 79 and mostly sunny. 97 today and sunny, but feeling hotter than that dangerously. So let's be careful. Tomorrow's slim chance of afternoon showers and storms, sunny 95, and feeling hotter. Stay close. There's more after the break. An investigation is underway after a lone shooter got into a mid-year.

Midtown office building last evening and shot several people, including an off-duty police officer, 36-year-old Deterul Islam. Joining us now with the latest on this investigation is WNIC's Brittany. Craigstine. Brittany, tell us what happened to you. Yeah, good morning, Michael. So here's what we know so far. Around 6.30 yesterday evening, a man armed with an AR-15-style gun walked into 345 Park Avenue.

That's near 52nd Street in busy Midtown Manhattan. And NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch says surveillance video shows him entering the lobby and she says, quote, spraying it with gunfire. He shot four people there. One was an NYPD officer. That's Dieter al-Islam, who you mentioned. Then a security guard, a woman who took cover behind a pillar and another man who survived. The police officer, the security guard and the woman were all killed, police say. And then the gunman rode the elevator upstairs to the 33rd, four.

floor, which officials say is home to Rootin Management, which is a private real estate company, and police say he shot and killed another woman on that floor before fatally shooting himself. Brittany, what information do we have about this shoot? And I understand he drove all the way from Nevada. And I did a search this morning. I just looked at driving distance. We're talking about more than 2,500 miles. That's right. We don't exactly know why he. He did that yet. Obviously, police are heavily investigating his potential motives here, but police have identified him as 27-year-old Shane Tamora. So he drove, as you said, that Black BMW all the way to New York City from his home in Las Vegas just a couple days ago, police say,

and he had a documented history of mental health issues there in Nevada. But we don't exactly know the breakdown of what that entailed, what kind of issues police were talked about. about, I'm sure information about that will be coming out within the next few days. And police say he acted alone. He pulled up to this Midtown skyscraper, got out of his car with this large rifle, and we just don't know why he targeted this building and this specific company. I tried calling members of his family yesterday evening, but no one picked up. And videos have surfaced of him being interviewed as a high school football player, but he doesn't appear to have much of a social media footprint otherwise. Now, police say they found a few things in Tumor's

car after the attack. One was a rifle case with rounds. Then he had a loaded revolver, ammunition, magazines, a backpack and medication with his name on it. But as I mentioned, Commissioner Tish could not go into detail about what that medication was. And she said she couldn't really talk about his previous mental health incidents. So definitely more to the story there. And what's interesting about this is they mentioned the mental health, but he was, as I understand, a license to carry a gun in Nevada as well. The building that the shooter entered is a massive Park Avenue skyscraper. Which companies have offices there, Brut? This is home to a number of high profile companies besides Rood and management, including the NFL, the Blackstone Group, and Deutsche Bank. And as you can imagine, the attacks sent panic and chaos throughout the building.

workers were running out onto the streets. There are videos of people just not knowing what was happening. And a powerful photo has surfaced showing how some employees barricaded the entrance to their office using a pile of couches. Just remarkable, a situation that nobody ever wants to face. Not at all. In this day and age grid, how did someone get into an office building in the middle of Midtown, Manhattan, with such a weapon?

Right. That's what law enforcement. officials will be heavily investigating over the next days and weeks. The NYPD officer who was shot and killed was working what's called a paid detail, meaning the building had hired him to provide security within his capacity as a police officer. We know from the narrative officials gave us that there was also another security guard present in that lobby. He also was shot and killed. And the gunman was able to make his way upstairs after that.

That's all we know so far. What do we know about the victims so far? Well, the only victim police have so far identified was that police officer Deerule Islam 36 years old. And here's Commissioner Jessica Tisch talking about him. Officer Islam was married with two young boys and his wife is pregnant with their third child. He's assigned to the 47 precinct in the Bronx. He was doing the job that we asked him to do. It seemed the commissioner got emotion.

talking about him last night, she called him a hero. The three other victims who were shot have not been identified as police work to notify their families. There's one other person still in critical condition in the hospital, Michael, while four others were treated yesterday for minor injuries. WNIC's Brittany Craigstein on the case this morning of a shooter, a gunman entering 345 Park Avenue and housing mayhem there. Brittany, thank you.

Thank you so much. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines and occasional deep vibes. Also subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.