A policeman is among four people killed when a gunman opened fire in a 44-level Manhattan skyscraper before turning the weapon on himself.
Armed with a clearly visible assault rifle, the man walked into the office block on Park Avenue and began firing in the lobby before heading to an upper level to continue the attack.
He then fatally shot himself in the chest at the end of his shooting spree, said police.
Among the victims was a New York Police Department officer who was on security duty at the time.
The three others killed by the suspect were civilians.
The skyscraper at 345 Park Avenue houses offices of financial institutions, including Blackstone and KPMG, along with the headquarters of America’s National Football League.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch gave a timeline of the horror incident.
She said surveillance footage showed the gunman exiting a double-parked black BMW.
He entered the lobby, turned right and fired on the police officer. He then shot a woman hiding behind a pillar while spraying the lobby with gunfire.
On his way to the elevator, he shot a security guard taking cover behind his desk, and a second man in the lobby.
A woman who walked out of the elevator was allowed to leave unharmed.
The gunman then rode to the 33rd floor and killed one more person, before shooting himself fatally in the chest.
Tisch said the gunman resided in Las Vegas and drove to New York in recent days.
He was identified as 27-year-old Shane Tamura, who had a history of mental health issues. He was believed to have acted alone, and investigators had yet to determine a possible motive for the shooting.
New York Mayor Eric Adams said no words could describe such an “act of evil”.
The slain 36-year-old police officer, Didarul Islam, was an immigrant from Bangladesh, Adams said.
He said he had met Islam’s family, and “I told them he’s a hero”.
The Fire Department of New York said emergency crews were called about 6.30pm on Monday (local time) to the Park Avenue office building with a report that someone had been shot.
About 100 people were believed to be in the building at the time. TV footage showed lines of people evacuating with their hands above their heads.
A large police presence converged on the area around the tower, according to Reuters journalists near the scene.
“I just saw a lot of commotion and cops and people screaming,” said Russ McGee, who was working out in a gym adjacent to the skyscraper, told Reuters.
Some finance workers at a nearby office were picking up dinner when they heard a loud noise and saw people running.
“It was like a crowd panic,” said Anna Smith, who joined the workers pouring back into the finance office building.
They remained there for about two hours before being told they could leave.
The FBI said agents from its New York field office were responding to provide support at the scene.
Adams said multiple people had been “shot and injured”.
“Unfortunately, we had a shooting here with multiple injuries,” he said in a video posted to X.
“Those who are in the building, we’re asking you to remain inside as police officers are doing a floor-by-floor search.”
The Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit American organisation that tracks gun-related violence, said it was the 254th mass shooting in the US so far in 2025. It defines mass shootings as those that injure or kill four or more people, not including the shooter.
-with AAP
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