Flowers and grief outside Midtown office as Blackstone executive is memorialized
On Thursday, several people dressed in black stopped by with flowers.
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The pain is still fresh outside a Midtown office building where four people were shot and killed earlier this week, including Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner.
On Thursday, several people dressed in black stopped by with flowers. They told News 12 that LePatner’s memorial service was today, and they wanted to pay their respects.
Workers also removed the barriers that had blocked the building’s entrance all week, and new glass windows now replace the ones shattered by bullets.
Police say 27-year-old Shane Tamura drove a BMW from Las Vegas to New York on Monday night with an AR-15-style rifle he had purchased from his supervisor at a Nevada casino for about $1,400.
Investigators say he walked into the office building with the rifle and opened fire, killing four people before shooting himself. A fifth victim survived.
When detectives searched Tamura’s Las Vegas apartment, they found psychiatric medication and other prescribed drugs, giving more insight into what he may have been struggling with. He also left a suicide note, blaming the NFL and claiming he had CTE, a brain disease linked to head injuries — even though police say he only played high school football.
One of LePatner’s employees, Allen Hodge, told News 12 the loss is personal, “I work for Wesley personally—every morning I talk to her. I go get her coffee, I get her water, and I set up all the meetings for the 24th, 25th, 26th floors here. I woke up to sorrow, misery… I’m upset. I’m mad.”
