Security Guard Aland Etienne, Killed in N.Y.C. Shooting, Was a 'New York Hero,' Union Says

NEED TO KNOW

• Aland Etienne has been identified as one of the four victims killed in a mass shooting in New York City on July 28

• Etienne was a security guard at 345 Park Avenue, where Shane Devon Tamura shot multiple people with an M4 rifle before turning the weapon on himself

• Other victims have been identified as off-duty NYPD officer Didarul Islam and Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner

Security guard Aland Etienne has been identified as the third victim in the New York City mass shooting on July 28 that left four innocent people dead before the gunman took his own life, his union confirms.

Etienne, 46, was working in the lobby at 345 Park Avenue in Manhattan Monday evening when he was shot and killed by 27-year-old Shane Devon Tamura of Las Vegas.

"Every time a security officer puts on their uniform, they put their lives on the line. Their contributions to our city are essential, though often unappreciated," 32BJ SEIU President Manny Pastreich tells PEOPLE in a statement.

He adds, "Aland Etienne is a New York hero. We will remember him as such."

Off-duty NYPD officer Didarul Islam and Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner were previously confirmed as victims of the shooting. An unidentified 27-year-old woman was also killed, police sources confirm.

Didarul was a father of two whose wife was pregnant at the time of his death. He was remembered by friends as "a pillar in his largely Bangladeshi neighborhood," according to the New York Times, which reported that he started his work as a security guard at a school before later joining the NYPD.

LePatner, who was in the lobby when she was fatally shot, was a mother of two who had been with Blackstone since 2014.

Tamura brought an M4 rifle to 345 Park Avenue early on Monday evening, where he shot multiple people in the lobby of the building, which is also home to the NFL offices, before taking an elevator to the 33rd floor. The gunman, who played football in high school, said in a suicide note that he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

The NYPD said during a press conference at Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan on Monday evening that Tamura had a “documented mental health history.” In his note, he wrote, "Terry Long football gave me CTE and it caused me to drink a gallon of antifreeze,” adding, “You can’t go against the NFL, they’ll squash you.”

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Long, a former professional football player, died by suicide in 2005 after drinking antifreeze; an autopsy later determined he had CTE.

Tamura — who wanted to target the NFL offices in his attack but took the wrong elevator — wrote in his note, “Study my brain please," writing, "I'm sorry."

After the shooting, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sent out a memo to staff revealing that an NFL employee had been injured in the attack, which he called an “unspeakable act of violence.”

“He is currently in the hospital and in stable condition," Goodell wrote in the memo, which was obtained by CNN and confirmed by PEOPLE. "NFL staff are at the hospital and we are supporting his family.”

Read the original article on People