"WHEN EVIL STRIKES SUDDENLY: Manhattan's NFL Shooting and America's Random Violence"

Reid Carter examines the deadliest mass shooting in New York City in 25 years, as former high school football player Shane Tamura drove cross-country to execute NFL employees over claims of CTE before taking his own life. From his chilling suicide note blaming football for his mental illness to the hero cop who died trying to stop him, we break down how grievance and delusion created Monday's Manhattan massacre. Plus, the Michigan Walmart rampage that left 11 stabbed by a man who called shoppers "bad people," and stunning testimony in the Washington honor killing trial where parents tried to murder their own daughter. When random violence replaces trials, we still bring you the truth. Justice isn't always preventable, but it's absolutely riveting.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Callaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Read Carter, and welcome
to celebrity trials on this Wednesday, July thirtieth. Yesterday, we
told you that generally we bring you trials, but some
horrible crimes will never see a courtroom because the perpetrators
chose to take their own lives rather than face justice.

(00:25):
Monday's mass shooting in Manhattan reminds us that while we
focus on legal proceedings and courtroom drama, the deadliest criminals
often write their own final chapters. We're bringing you updates
on three cases of sudden violence that shocked America this week.
A former football player's rampage at NFL headquarters, a random
stabbing spree at a Michigan walmart, and ongoing testimony in

(00:48):
a Washington trial where parents tried to commit an honor
killing of their own teenage daughter. These stories show us
different faces of American violence. The aggrieved gunmen seeking revenge
against an institution, the random attacker targeting innocent strangers, and
the calculated family violence hidden behind cultural traditions. What connects

(01:10):
them all is the speed with which ordinary people can
become capable of extraordinary evil. Let's start with Monday's massacre
in Manhattan, where the deadliest mass shooting in New York
City in twenty five years played out in the shadow
of one of America's most powerful sports organizations. Shane Devon Tamura,
a twenty seven year old from Las Vegas, drove cross

(01:32):
country to execute a plan that ended with five dead
and a city in shock. The gunmen walked into three
forty five Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan shortly after the
close of business Monday, armed with an M four rifle
and opened fire in the lobby and again on the
thirty third floor before taking his own life. But this
wasn't a random mass shooting. This was a calculated attack

(01:56):
with a specific target, the National Football League. In a
suicide note found in Tamura's pocket, he expressed grievances with
the NFL and its handling of CTE chronic traumatic encephalopathy,
a brain disease linked to head trauma. The note revealed
the depth of Tamura's delusion and rage. Terry Long Football

(02:17):
gave me CTE and it caused me to drink a
gallon of anti freeze, Timura wrote. According to sources, you
can't go against the NFL. They'll squash you. Terry Long
was a former Pittsburgh Steelers player who was diagnosed with
CTE and died by suicide in two thousand and five
after drinking anti freeze. Study my brain. Please, I'm sorry,

(02:39):
tell Rick, I'm sorry for everything, the note continued. Think
about that for a moment. Timura had constructed an entire
narrative where his mental illness was caused by playing high
school football and where the NFL was somehow responsible for
his suffering. His attack wasn't just about revenge. It was
about forcing the world to examine his brain after death

(02:59):
to prove his theory. Here's what we know about Timura's
path to Monday's violence. He was a competitive high school
football player in southern California who earned all conference honors,
but according to former classmates and coaches, he never expressed
ambitions to play in college or the NFL. I knew
so many kids in high school who made it clear

(03:19):
that's all they wanted to do. One former teammate said,
I never got that from Shane. So how did a
high school football player who never pursued the sport professionally
convince himself that the NFL was responsible for his mental illness.
The answer lies in the dangerous intersection of legitimate scientific
research and personal delusion. CTE is a real disease that

(03:42):
has been found in the brains of numerous deceased NFL players.
The league has faced massive lawsuits over its handling of
head trauma and brain injuries. But Tamura took this legitimate
scientific concern and weaponized it into a personal grievance that
justified mass murder. Tamora had recently driven across the country
from Las Vegas to New York, with his vehicle tracked

(04:05):
through Colorado on Saturday, Nebraska, and Iowa on Sunday, and
arriving in Manhattan just hours before the shooting. This wasn't
a spontaneous act of violence. This was a premeditated cross
country journey to commit murder. The attack began when Tamura
entered the building lobby and immediately opened fire on Officer

(04:26):
Didarul Islam, a thirty six year old NYPD officer who
was working security. Islam, a Bangladeshi immigrant with two young
sons and a pregnant wife, died trying to protect innocent people.
He is being hailed as a hero who gave his
life in service to others. After killing Islam, Tamora shot

(04:46):
a woman taking cover behind a pillar and fired at
others before taking an elevator to the thirty third floor.
But here's where Tamura's plan went wrong. From our preliminary investigation,
he took the wrong elevator bank up to the NFL headquarters.
Mayor Eric Adams said, Instead, it took him to Rudent management,

(05:07):
and that is where he carried out additional shootings and
took the lives of additional employees. The NFL offices are
on the fifth floor of the building. Timora's rage was
so focused on the league that he couldn't even navigate
to the right floor to carry out his revenge fantasy. Instead,
he murdered innocent real estate employees who had nothing to

(05:28):
do with his imagined grievances. Among the dead was Wesley Lapatner,
a Blackstone executive who embodied the best of Blackstone and
leaves behind a husband and children. She was brilliant, passionate, warm, generous,
and deeply respected within our firm and beyond, the company, said.
An NFL employee was seriously injured but survived. The entire

(05:50):
attack was captured on surveillance cameras showing Tamora's methodical approach
to mass murder. Security footage shows him exiting a black
BMW while carrying an M four rifle, entering the lobby,
and immediately opening fire. The building's cameras documented every moment
of his rampage until he barricaded himself on the thirty
third floor and took his own life. What makes this

(06:12):
case particularly chilling is how Timura's former friends and classmates
described him. When I knew him, he was a great teammate,
He was a great guy in general. He didn't cause
any problems actually at all, in the locker room or
on the field. A former teammate said, you never would
have thought violence was something you'd associate with him. This

(06:34):
is the face of modern mass violence, not the obviously
disturbed loner, but the seemingly normal person who constructs an
elaborate grievance narrative that justifies unspeakable acts. Timora convinced himself
that playing high school football had given him a brain disease,
that the NFL was covering up his condition, and that

(06:54):
mass murder was the only way to force the world
to acknowledge his suffering. The tragedy is that CTE research
exists precisely to help players like Tomorra might have been.
The scientific community and even the NFL have acknowledged the
link between repetitive head trauma and brain disease, but Tamora
took legitimate research and twisted it into a justification for murder,

(07:19):
targeting people who had nothing to do with his alleged condition.
Back in a moment, while New York was reeling from
Monday's mass shooting, Michigan was dealing with its own outbreak

(07:41):
of sudden violence. On Saturday, a man armed with a
folding knife went on a stabbing spree at a Walmart
in Traverse City, attacking eleven people before heroic bystanders stopped
him in the parking lot. Bradford James Giel, forty two,
of Afton, Michigan, entered the busy walmart at four ten
PM and waited inside for thirty five minutes before carrying

(08:02):
out his attack. Think about that he wasn't in a rage,
He wasn't responding to some immediate trigger. He walked into
the store, looked around for over half an hour, and
then decided to start stabbing strangers. All eleven victims, who
range in age from twenty nine to eighty four, are
expected to survive. One was treated and released, two are

(08:23):
in serious condition, and the rest are in fair condition.
But the psychological trauma of this random attack will last
far longer than the physical wounds. Eyewitness accounts described the
chaos as Gilah moved through the store with his knife.
By the time an employee in the checkout area yelled
about a man with a knife, it was too late.

(08:44):
Nearly a dozen people had been stabbed. Grand Travers County
Sheriff Michael Shay said, but what happened next shows the
best of humanity in response to the worst. Matt Kolakowski,
a thirty nine year old former marine who was shopping
with his thirteen year old daughter, heard a store employee
yell he's got a knife. His military training kicked in

(09:05):
and he told his daughter to stay put while he
and his brother in law, Chris O'Brien took off after
the suspect. Kolakowski didn't have any weapon, so he grabbed
an empty grocery cart in the parking lot. He rammed
the attacker in the ankle with the cart, lifted it
over his head, and tried to slam it down on
the man. Another marine who happened to be in the
parking lot drew his gun on the attacker, showing the

(09:27):
kind of citizen response that probably prevented even more casualties.
He was screaming something about him being a soldier and
that everybody in Walmart were bad people, Kolakowski said. The
attacker's delusional thinking that random shoppers at Walmart were somehow
bad people who deserved to be stabbed shows the same
kind of warped logic we saw with Shane Tamura in Manhattan. Eventually,

(09:50):
the attacker dropped his knife and Kolakowski held him down
until deputies arrived. When the officer recognized Kolakowski as a
fellow veteran, he handed him first aid supply and asked
him to help treat the wounded. It was just mass
panic in the parking lot, ambulances, lights everywhere, sirens everywhere,
blood everywhere, Kolakowski said. Gila faces one count of terrorism

(10:13):
and eleven counts of assault with intent to murder. The
terrorism charge was brought because of the attacks impact on
the entire community, not just individual victims. Obviously, the victims
are most affected, but it is we believe, in some ways,
done to affect the entire community, to put fear in
the entire community, and to change how maybe we operate

(10:34):
on a daily basis. Prosecutor Noel Muggenberg said the motive
remains unknown, but Gila's criminal history shows prior assault of
incidents as well as controlled substance violations. He may have
previously lived in the area and was somewhat familiar with it,
but investigators haven't determined why he returned or why he

(10:55):
chose Walmart as his target. This case highlights how random
violence can strike anywhere, any time. Traverse City is a
small community of about sixteen thousand people, known for its beaches, wineries,
and annual cherry festival. It's exactly the kind of place
where people don't expect mass violence, but Gila's attack shows

(11:16):
that no community is immune to sudden, senseless violence. The
difference between this case and the Manhattan shooting is the
response of bystanders. In New York, Shane Tamura was armed
with a military style rifle in a corporate office building.
In Michigan, Bradford Gilly had a folding knife in a
public space where armed citizens and military veterans were present.

(11:38):
The presence of people willing to fight back probably saved
lives and definitely prevented additional casualties. Now, let's turn to
Washington State, where a different kind of violence is playing
out in a courtroom. Iksan and Zara Ali are on
trial for attempting to murder their own seventeen year old
daughter in what prosecutors call an attempted honor killing. The trial,

(12:02):
which has been ongoing for over two weeks, centers on
an October eighteenth, twenty twenty four incident outside Timberline High
School in Lacey, Washington. The Aelias's daughter, Fadimah, had run
away from home that morning because she didn't want to
travel to Iraq with her family to be forced into
an arranged marriage with an older man. Court documents reveal

(12:23):
that Isan Ali had recently threatened his daughter with an
honor killing for refusing the arranged marriage and for dating
a sixteen year old boy against their cultural and religious beliefs.
When Fadima sought help from a counselor at her high school,
her parents tracked her down at the bus stop. What
happened next was captured on surveillance video. And cell phone

(12:43):
footage that has shocked courtroom observers. Witnesses say Isan punched
Fadima's boyfriend and then placed his daughter in a choke
hold until she lost consciousness. His arm was wrapped around
her throat. One eyewitness testified. Multiple witness described Fatima's lips
turned purple and her eyes were rolling back. The attack

(13:06):
was so violent that bystanders intervened, with multiple students and
adults punching Ishan to try to free Fatimah. A bus
driver who witnessed the attack described how he blew his
horn and yelled for Hissan to let her go, but
the father remained focused and silent, not reacting to the
punches from people trying to save his daughter. Fatimah herself

(13:27):
has testified in the trial, describing how the conversation with
her father began calmly but escalated when she talked back
to him. I was heartbroken for what my dad did
and was afraid of dying, she told the jury. She
testified that when she regained consciousness, her mother, Zarah, was
holding on to her by her chest and neck, though

(13:47):
Fatima said she didn't believe her mother was trying to
hurt her. Medical testimony has been particularly damaging to the defense.
Doctor Joyce Gilbert, a pediatrician, showed jurors c TEA scams
revealing air trapped outside Fadama's trachea. Following the incident, multiple
medical professionals testified about strangulation symptoms. They observed PATIKII small

(14:11):
red spots on her eyes and face, abrasions and discoloration
on her neck and shoulder, and ongoing symptoms weeks later,
including blurry vision, jaw pain, and neck pain. Perhaps most
chilling was testimony from forensic nurse examiner Sgnovia Rivas, who
specializes in strangulation cases. She detailed the symptoms. Fatima reported dizziness, numbness, headache,

(14:36):
memory issues described as life flashing before eyes, visual changes,
sore throat, difficulty breathing, and pain throughout her body. The
defense has struggled with the overwhelming evidence against their clients.
Isan Ali's attorney argued that the case boils down to
fifty three seconds and claimed that Fatima's boyfriend was the

(14:57):
aggressor who struck first, but the frame by frame video
analysis shows is San grabbing his daughter and choking her
until she lost consciousness. Zara Ali's defense attorney made a
remarkable closing argument that essentially admitted his client was different,
but argued she shouldn't be judged differently because of her
cultural background. My client is different. You can't allow yourself

(15:21):
to look at her any differently and reach a decision
because she's different. Attorney Tim Leary said, the decision has
to be the same whether or not her child grew
up in kindergarten to junior year and the mom is
the head of the PTA. But prosecutors argued that cultural
differences don't excuse attempted murder. You cannot strangle your child

(15:42):
to restrain them, Deputy prosecuting attorney heather Stone told the jury.
The state argued that while Isan may not have intended
to kill his daughter when he arrived at the school,
his intent changed during the fifty three second attack captured
on video. Both defendants chose not to testify in their
own defense, and both have pleaded not guilty to multiple charges,

(16:04):
including second degree attempted murder, attempted kidnapping, and domestic violence assault.
The judge has ruled that the jury cannot hear about
the arranged marriage or honor killing aspects of the case,
limiting prosecutors to focusing on the physical attack itself. The
case is now in the hands of the jury, who
must decide whether parents who tried to strangle their own

(16:26):
daughter should be convicted of attempted murder or whether this
was simply a family dispute that got out of hand.
What connects all three of today's stories is how quickly
ordinary situations can turn deadly. Shane Tamura was a former
high school athlete who turned legitimate scientific research into a
justification for mass murder. Bradford Gillah was a man with

(16:49):
a criminal history who decided that Walmart shoppers were bad
people who deserved to be stabbed. Isan and Zahra Ali
were parents who believed their culture and religious beliefs justified
choking their own daughter unconscious. Each case shows how grievance, delusion,
and rage can transform people into killers. Tama spent years

(17:12):
constructing a narrative where the NFL was responsible for his
mental illness. Gilla developed some twisted worldview where innocent shoppers
became targets. The Alis convinced themselves that their daughter's refusal
to accept an arranged marriage justified attempted murder. These cases
also show the importance of bystander intervention. In Manhattan, Officer

(17:34):
Islam died trying to stop Tamura, but undoubtedly saved other lives.
In Michigan, Matt Kolakowski and other veterans risked their lives
to stop Gilla and probably prevented additional casualties. In Washington,
students and strangers fought to pull Isan Ali off his
daughter and likely saved Fatima's life. The randomness of these

(17:56):
attacks is what makes them so terrifying. None of them
victims did anything to deserve what happened to them. Officer
Islam was just doing his job. The Walmart shoppers were
just buying groceries. Fatimah was just trying to live her
life as an American teenager. But the speed of bystander
response in two of these cases shows that good people
are willing to risk their lives to protect strangers. That's

(18:19):
the silver lining in these dark stories. When evil strikes suddenly,
heroes emerge just as quickly. That's celebrity trials for today,
I'm read Carter. While we usually bring you trials and
legal proceedings, sometimes the most important stories are the ones
that never make it to court. These cases remind us
that evil can strike anywhere, anytime, but so can heroism.

(18:43):
Justice isn't always served in courtrooms. Sometimes it's delivered by
ordinary people who refuse to stand by while innocence are attacked.
See you back here tomorrow, where we'll continue following the
Ali trial verdict and whatever new legal drama America delivers.
This isn't always predictable, but it's absolutely riveting,