A Blackstone Executive Was One of Four People Killed in the Manhattan Shooting

The news of a shooting in a Midtown Manhattan office building on July 28 has understandably left the entirety of New York City in shock. Shane Tamura, the alleged gunman, entered the office building over anger he had at the NFL, which shares the building with several other companies.

As news of the shooting spread, we also learned that one of the victims was Wesley Lepatner, an executive at the investment firm Blackstone. Here's what we know about her death.

Wesley, a married mother, was one of four people killed during the shooting.

“We are heartbroken to share that our colleague, Wesley LePartner, was among those who lost their lives in the tragic incident at 345 Park Avenue,” Blackstone said in a statement released to The New York Post. “Words cannot express the devastation we feel. Wesley was a beloved member of the Blackstone family and will be sorely missed."

“She was brilliant, passionate, warm, generous, and deeply respected within our firm and beyond," the statement continued. “She embodied the best of Blackstone. Our prayers are with her husband, children, and family.”

According to Bloomberg, Wesley first joined Blackstone in 2014 and served as the global head of Core+ Real Estate and chief executive officer for Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, a property worth $53 billion.

Wesley was not the only Blackstone employee to be killed or injured during the shooting, and several others were taken to the hospital to receive treatment following the attack. After Tamura entered the building, Blackstone employees began messaging one another to spread a warning about the threat, and some even barricaded themselves in their offices with furniture or other heavy items.

According to reports from police, Tamura entered the building at approximately 6:30 p.m. and first shot NYPD officer Didarul Islam, a father of two whose wife is pregnant with their third child. He then sprayed fire around the lobby, killing a woman — presumably Lepatner — who was hiding behind a pillar and a security guard who was hiding under their desk. He then allowed a woman to exit the elevator unharmed and traveled up to the 33rd floor, where he shot and killed one man before shooting himself in the chest.

Tamura traveled all the way from Las Vegas, Nev. to Manhattan to commit the shooting, according to police, and a suicide note was also found on his person. In the note, he expressed grievances he had with the NFL and said that he suffered from CTE, a disease linked to head trauma. Tamura was apparently a competitive football player when he was younger, per CNN.

In a statement, New York Governor Kathy Hochul called on Congress to ban assault rifles. “New York has some of the strongest gun laws in the nation. We banned assault weapons," she said in a statement. "We strengthened our Red Flag Law. We closed dangerous loopholes. But our laws only go so far when an AR-15 can be obtained in a state with weak gun laws and brought into New York to commit mass murder.”