Shane Tamura, the 27-year-old gunman who fatally shot 36-year-old New York City police officer Didarul Islam and several others in a New York City skyscraper on Monday, was reportedly found dead with a note claiming that football had given him chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.
In it, he addressed former Pittsburgh Steelers player Terry Long, who was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease. Long drank a bottle of antifreeze to commit suicide in 2005, with doctors at the time attributing depression associated with the condition as a factor in his death.
“Terry Long, football gave me CTE and it caused me to drink a gallon of antifreeze,” the note said, according to reports from The New York Post.
“Please study brain for CTE. I’m sorry. The league knowingly concealed the dangers to our brains to maximize profits,” he wrote. “They failed us.”
On Tuesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams told CNN that the city’s medical examiner would determine the next steps for Tamura’s body, including whether his brain would be tested for CTE. The mayor said earlier in the day that the attack was ‘focused on the NFL,’ with the league confirming that one staffer had been hospitalized in the attack.
But, what is CTE and how many people are affected? Here’s what to know.
What is CTE?
CTE is a brain disorder that’s been linked to repeated concussions and traumatic brain injuries.
Symptoms include memory loss, problems with attention, mood disturbances, impaired judgment, poor muscle coordination, and suicidal thoughts, according to Harvard Medical School.
While physical and speech therapy can be used to help, there is no way to reverse the symptons, which gets worse over time, according to the Mayo Clinic.
However, the disease can only be diagnosed after death, using an autopsy.
The exact number of Americans who have had CTE remains unknown.
The connection to professional sports
Heightened awareness about CTE has likely led athletes in high contact sports to retire sooner than they had planned.
A study of nearly 2,000 former NFL players released last year found that one in three of those surveyed believe they have the degenerative brain disease CTE.
Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez, who died by suicide in a Massachusetts prison in 2017, was diagnosed with CTE after his death. Brett Favre, of the Green Bay Packers, has said he believes he may have CTE, as well. Boston University announced last year that 345 former NFL players, out of 376 who were studied, had been diagnosed with CTE.
Tamura never featured in the NFL, but was a standout high school player, according to The LA Times.
“We know from conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, these neurodegenerative conditions that don’t really have treatments or cures at the moment [and] that are really hard to diagnose, a lot of those conditions are associated with some suicidality and thoughts of self-harm,” Dr. Rachel Grashow, of the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, previously told The Independent. “So, the final question we asked was, ‘Do we see similar associations with our former players?”
Similar research in former hockey players found that the odds of developing CTE increased by 34 percent with each year they played the sport.
“Ice hockey players with longer careers not only were more likely to have CTE, but they also had more severe disease,” Dr. Jesse Mez, the co-director of clinical research at Massachusetts’ Boston University CTE Center, said in a statement.
CTE has also been found in the brains of people who box, according to the Mayo Clinic, in rugby players, and military veterans.
How do we prevent CTE?
Increased research in this area aims to address the condition. Hundreds of brain donations from athletes have helped.
Better-performing helmets have helped contribute to a 25 percent reduction in concussions across the last five NFL season, according to Harvard.
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
