LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — The man accused of driving from Las Vegas to New York City and killing several people in a Manhattan building had his firearms background check come back as “unresolved,” according to officials.
Shane Tamura, 27, entered a Manhattan office tower on July 28 with a gun and killed four people before killing himself.
Through a public records request, officials from the Nevada Point of Contact Firearms Program told FOX5 there were two background checks run concerning Tamura for a firearm transfer. Officials said a firearm transfer background check was conducted in March 2022 and again in October 2024.
Both background checks came back as “unresolved,” according to Nevada Point of Contact Firearms Program officials, meaning they were not able to find “definitive information” to reach a deny-or-proceed decision.
The gun Tamura used in the mass killing was transferred to him by his supervisor on Oct. 2, 2024, according to an attorney representing the supervisor.
In Nevada, a federally licensed firearm dealer can still release the firearm three days after a firearms transfer background check comes back unresolved. However, it is up to the dealer’s discretion whether to move forward.
In the weeks since the shooting, details on Tamura’s past in Las Vegas have surfaced, including an incident in which he was escorted from Red Rock Casino after a dispute while cashing out his winnings.
Police said Tamura was found with a “rambling note” claiming he had been suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease linked to concussions. Investigators are looking into whether Tamura believed he had a brain condition linked to contact sports and harbored resentment toward the NFL, which is housed in the building in which he opened fire.
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