Midtown Manhattan – New eyewitness footage and survivor accounts have revealed a haunting new chapter in the 345 Park Avenue shooting that left five dead and several injured. Just moments before the shooter, identified as Shane D. Tamura, stormed into the office building, employees inside made a desperate attempt to stop him—using whatever they could find.
Chairs. Filing cabinets. A coffee cart.
As the sound of gunfire echoed through the lobby, a group of brave employees on the 19th floor, alerted by screams from below, scrambled to barricade the hallway that led to their open-plan office. In an act of pure survival instinct, they pushed office furniture against the glass double doors, even breaking apart a heavy printer stand to block the entrance.
One survivor, who asked to remain anonymous, recalled through tears:
“We knew we didn’t have weapons. All we had were chairs, boxes, shelves… anything. We stacked them up and braced ourselves.”
For a moment, it seemed like their quick thinking might work. The noise stopped. The floor went silent.
But then—a sudden crash.
Tamura, described as wearing tactical gear and armed with what police believe was an illegally modified AR-style rifle, smashed through the barricade after firing multiple rounds into the glass door. The furniture flew apart like matchsticks.
What happened next was brutal and fast. Within seconds of breaching the improvised blockade, Tamura shot two more people inside—a woman in her 40s and a young intern believed to be just 22 years old.
A shaken employee who witnessed it said:
“He didn’t say a word. Just raised the gun and fired. The girl—she was hiding behind a desk. She didn’t even have time to scream.”
Emergency services were already en route, but the horror unfolded too quickly. The NYPD arrived approximately four minutes later, and Tamura was subdued after a short standoff on the 17th floor.
Though five lives were lost, law enforcement confirmed that the brave resistance by employees bought precious minutes—allowing dozens of others to evacuate through the emergency stairwell or hide behind locked rooms.
One police officer stated during a press briefing:
“Their actions, though tragic in outcome, undoubtedly saved lives. These were civilians with no training who acted with incredible courage.”
A City Mourns, But Also Honors
As New York grapples with the scale of the tragedy, makeshift memorials have begun appearing outside the building. Flowers, notes, and even handwritten drawings by local children now line the sidewalk along Park Avenue.
One note simply reads:
“To the people who tried to stop him: You are heroes. We see you.”
The city will never forget the five souls lost on that dark day. But it will also remember the moment ordinary office workers, facing death, stood up with nothing but courage—and chairs.
