NYC gunman Shane Tamura apologized to parents in second suicide note

Shane Tamura, the gunman who killed an NYPD cop and three civilians before taking his own life inside a Midtown Manhattan Park Ave. skyscraper, left a second suicide note — this one in his Las Vegas home apologizing to his parents, police sources said Wednesday.

“When I look into you and dad’s eyes, all I see is disappointment,” he wrote to his mother. “I love you, Momma. I’m sorry.”

The note was recovered from Tamura’s studio apartment along with a tripod for the assault rifle he had on him when he walked into the lobby of the Park Avenue building about 6:30 p.m. local time Monday and opened fire.

One round for the rifle, as well as 100 .9-mm bullets, were recovered from the apartment as well as a pill bottle for anti-psychotic medication.

Two other prescription bottles, one for an anti-inflammatory medication, the other an anti-epilepsy drug, were also found.

Tamura had a history of mental illness, police have said without giving details. Authorities have not provided more specific information about Tamura’s psychiatric history.

The newly discovered note was different from the three-page suicide screed found folded up in Tamura’s wallet after he killed himself but is also focused on chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a brain injury Tamura believed he had and blamed the NFL for, a police source said.

The degenerative brain disease has been linked to concussions and other repeated head trauma common in contact sports such as football.

Cops in Las Vegas learned that Tamura bought the assault rifle from his friend Rick, who was also Tamura’s supervisor at the Horseshoe Hotel and Casino, where Tamura worked a late-night security job.

Rick had purchased the weapon legally, then resold it to Tamura for $1,400. “Tell Rick I’m sorry,” Tamura wrote in the suicide note found in his wallet.

Rick, who hung up on a New York Daily News reporter when reached by phone Tuesday, isn’t currently facing any criminal charges and is fully cooperating with investigators.

Investigators were awaiting a search warrant Wednesday to open Tamura’s locker at the casino, as well as access the information from the gunman’s laptop and cellphone, an NYPD spokesman said.

“We will look at his phones and computer. We will talk to his family,” NYPD Chief of Department John Chell said on Fox 5’s “Good Day New York” Wednesday. “We have to go to all of this, because it gives us the best info to prevent it next time.”

“This investigation is far from over,” he added. “It’s going to be a lot of work.”

The gunman first shot to death Officer Didarul Islam, who was in his NYPD uniform working a paid security detail authorized by the department.

Tamura went on to shoot three civilians in the lobby, killing security guard Aland Etienne, 46, and Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner, 43, and badly wounding an NFL executive leaving work.

Tamura then took the elevator to the 33rd floor, where he killed 27-year-old Rudin employee Julia Hyman before shooting himself to death.

In the suicide note found in his wallet on Monday, Tamura blamed the NFL for his CTE, although the NYPD determined there was no nexus between the high school football player and the NFL.

Police believe he was targeting the NFL headquarters on four lower floors of the building but took the wrong elevator bank.

“You can’t go against the NFL,” he wrote in the note found in his wallet, police said. “They’ll squash you.”

“CTE. Study my brain please,” Tamura added. “The league knowingly concealed the dangers to our brains to maximize profits. They failed us.”

Tamura drove cross country over the weekend to New York City. During his trip, he received two incoming calls, one while traveling through Geneseo, Illinois, and one while entering Parsippany, New Jersey, the NYPD said.

Cops are questioning the callers as well as Tamura’s family and friends to learn more about the gunman’s motives, an NYPD spokesman said.

Contributing: Associated Press