Julia Hyman, a victim in the Midtown mass shooting, sought refuge in a hidden panic room on the 33rd floor of 345 Park Avenue.
The 27-year-old employee at Rudin Management jumped into the panic room located in a bathroom just as Tamura exited the elevator and began firing with assault rifles, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
This panic room features ballistic doors, lock bolts, a hardwired phone system, and live camera feeds monitoring the hallway.
After stepping out of the elevator, Tamura, aged 27, charged through glass walls, smashing through broken glass to access Rudin’s office, shooting at the glass doors and walls.
He fired at a female cleaner pushing a cart, but missed when she managed to escape.
At one point, the shootings paused for a moment, and then, for unclear reasons, Hyman exited the panic room, only to be shot by Tamura as she stepped out.
Hyman made it back to her desk, tried to reach for the phone, but fell before she could make a call.
Shortly thereafter, Tamura aimed his gun at her chest and then took his own life.
These tragic details have been pieced together from witness accounts and security footage from within the building, which also houses the NFL headquarters that Tamura allegedly targeted.
Updated Information on the NYC Mass Shooting:
In a chilling revelation, Tamura stated he felt “visibly angry” upon spotting the Rudin Management logo after mistakenly stepping onto the wrong floor.
Although Hyman was not one of his intended targets, she was still fatally shot, having worked at Rudin for less than a year.
Tamura’s rampage commenced around 6:27 PM after he retrieved his assault rifle from his BMW, parked illegally outside the tower.
Once inside, he began shooting in the lobby, hitting NYPD officer Didalur Islam, 36.
Security guard Aland Etienne, 46, attempted to activate the building’s lockdown panels but was also shot before he could succeed, bleeding profusely across the lobby floor.
Sequence of Events During the Shooting
- The shooting began at 6:28 PM at 345 Park Avenue.
- Shane Tamura, 27, was seen exiting a black BMW with an M4 rifle.
- He entered the lobby and shot officer Didalur Islam.
- Tamura then shot a woman behind a lobby pillar and continued towards the elevator bank.
- Another man was critically injured in the lobby.
- He allowed one woman to escape unharmed before targeting the 33rd floor, where Rudin’s office is located.
- One individual was shot and fatally wounded before Tamura shot himself.
- The duration of the chaos remains unclear, but police confirmed that the situation was contained, and the shooter was neutralized.
Following these events, Tamura shot NFL employee Craig Clementi, and Wesley Le Patner, a Blackstone executive, was also fatally shot while trying to escape.
Afterward, Tamura boarded the elevator, allowing another woman to escape before reaching the 33rd floor where he killed Hyman.
After shooting her, Tamura turned the gun on himself.
Hyman’s funeral took place on Wednesday, attended by hundreds of mourners, where her uncle spoke fondly of her. “Julia had an innate emotional intelligence and connected deeply with those around her,” he noted. “She embraced life with courage and lived with wide open eyes, always engaged—she planned parties, created playlists, and even DJed.”
