The Office of the City’s Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) announced on Friday, Sept. 26, the results of a neuropathological examination of Shane Tamura, the gunman who died by suicide after carrying out the fatal mass shooting of four people at 345 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan on July 28, including NYPD Det. First Grade Didarul Islam, a husband and father who was assigned to The Bronx’s 47th Precinct.

 

Officials from OCME said following a thorough assessment and extensive analysis by neuropathology experts, OCME found unambiguous diagnostic evidence of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE, in the brain tissue of the decedent. They said the findings correspond with the classification of low-stage CTE, according to current consensus criteria.

 

They added that CTE may be found in the brains of decedents with a history of repeated exposure to head trauma, adding that the science around this condition continues to evolve, and the physical and mental manifestations of CTE remain under study.

 

As reported, CNN previously reported that the NFL acknowledges a link between football and brain disorders like CTE. The NFL had an office located at 345 Park Avenue in Manhattan where the shooting took place.

Brain Health and Resilience: Fireside Chat with Emilia Clarke and Bennet Omalu | Salesforce Video courtesy of Salesforce via YouTube

As reported, the topic of CTE was chronicled in the 2015 Will Smith movie “Concussion,” based on the exposé “Game Brain” by Jeanne Marie Laskas, published in 2009 by GQ magazine.

 

Based on real life events and set during the 2000s, the film chronicles the story of Nigerian-American forensic pathologist, Dr. Bennet Ifeakandu Omalu, who is also a neuropathologist, and who fights against the NFL’s attempts to suppress his research on CTE brain degeneration suffered by professional football players.

 

Omalu was the first to discover and publish findings on CTE in American football players while working at the Allegheny County coroner’s office in Pittsburgh. He later became the chief medical examiner for San Joaquin County, California and a professor at the University of California, Davis, in the department of medical pathology and laboratory medicine. He is currently the president and medical director of Bennet Omalu Pathology.

 

Following a brain injury incurred by British “Game of Thrones” actress Emilia Clarke, Omalu interviewed her to help raise awareness about the condition. See YouTube link above to watch the interview.

 

As reported, police said Islam was one of four people killed by Tamura, 27, who was from Las Vegas and who carried out the shooting using an assault rifle. Police said Tamura reportedly had mental health issues and said he later turned the gun on himself and also died. For more on this, click here.