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Gunman in NYC office shooting was targeting NFL headquarters, referenced having CTE

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that the gunman behind the deadly shooting inside an office building in Midtown Manhattan on Monday evening was apparently targeting NFL offices there. Adams has told the press it appears the shooter took the wrong elevator bank and instead reached the offices of Rudin Management, where he again opened fire after spraying bullets across the building’s lobby.

A New York City police officer and three civilians were killed after the gunman, Shane Devon Tamura, opened fire inside the high-rise corporate building in midtown Manhattan. The shooting was first reported at 6:30 p.m. at 345 Park Ave., which houses several major businesses, including Blackstone, KPMG and the NFL. The suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, per authorities.

The four victims were identified as: NYPD officer Didarul Islam, Blackstone real estate executive Wesley LePatner, Rudin employee Julia Hyman, and security officer Aland Etienne.

Mayor Adams said that Officer Islam joined the NYPD four years ago. He was a Bangladeshi immigrant assigned to a Bronx precinct, and was off-duty working a private security detail assignment at the time of the shooting. Islam is survived by his wife, who is eight months pregnant, and two young sons.  The NYPD said in a statement: “Police Officer Didarul Islam represented the very best of our department. He was protecting New Yorkers from danger when his life was tragically cut short today.”

32BJ SEIU President Manny Pastreich said of dedicated security officer Aland Etienne: “this tragedy speaks to the sacrifice of security officers who risk their lives every day to keep New Yorkers and our buildings safe. 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. Aland Etienne is a New York hero. We will remember him as such.” Etienne’s partner of eight years, Rachel Paoli, is the mother of their son, who will turn 7 on Saturday.

Blackstone also shared in a statement about their employee LePatner: “Words cannot express the devastation we feel. Wesley was a beloved member of the Blackstone family and will be sorely missed.  She was brilliant, passionate, warm, generous, and deeply respected within our firm and beyond. She embodied the best of Blackstone. Our prayers are with her husband, children and family. We are also saddened by the loss of the other innocent victims as well, including brave security personnel and NYPD.” 

Officials say that Tamura, a 27-year-old from Las Vegas, acted alone and “has a documented mental health history.” According to law enforcement, investigators recovered a three-page rambling note from the gunman’s wallet in which he referenced the brain disease CTE, which is caused by head trauma, as the possible cause of his mental illness. According to the sources, the note said he wanted to have his brain donated to science so it could studied for the disease. Tamura played high school football but did not play professionally, and police have not found any evidence that he suffered from CTE and has no known connection to the NFL. Police sources told ABC News that a page of the note alleged the National Football League had concealed the dangers football contact could cause to players’ brains to maximize earnings. Tamura had two Mental Health Crisis Holds on his record, and a prior arrest for trespassing in Nevada, where he also received his concealed carry license.

ESPN’s Jeff Darlington posted to X  that “NFL commissioner Roger Goodell informed league employees that ‘one of our employees was seriously injured in this attack. He is currently in the hospital and in stable condition” (which was also confirmed by CNN.)

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Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell willing to testify before Congress if granted pardon

Ghislaine Maxwell, the late Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirator, says she is willing to testify before Congress on what she knows about the disgraced financier if she is granted a pardon. Epstein died in jail in 2019 by suicide.

A letter from Maxwell’s attorney David Markus on Tuesday to Rep. James Comer, R-Kentucky, who heads the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, pushed for her clemency so she can “testify openly and honestly” about Epstein. Comer issued a subpoena last week to secure Maxwell’s testimony through a deposition on Aug. 11 at a federal correctional facility in Tallahassee, Florida.

Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and other charges in 2021. Prosecutors said that from 1994 to 2004, Maxwell worked together with Epstein to identify girls, groom them, and then transport them to Epstein’s properties in New York, Florida, New Mexico, and other locations, where they were then sexually abused.

Markus said Maxwell would invoke her Fifth Amendment right and decline to testify unless the committee agreed to grant her immunity and interview her outside prison: “Ms. Maxwell cannot risk further criminal exposure in a politically charged environment without formal immunity. Nor is a prison setting conducive to eliciting truthful and complete testimony.”

Markus also asked the committee to provide questions in advance and postpone the interview until after the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether to take up Maxwell’s appeal of her conviction: “Of course, in the alternative, if Ms. Maxwell were to receive clemency, she would be willing—and eager—to testify openly and honestly, in public, before Congress in Washington, D.C. She welcomes the opportunity to share the truth and to dispel the many misconceptions and misstatements that have plagued this case from the beginning.”

The letter comes after Maxwell and her lawyer met last week with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche over two days last week. Maxwell answered questions for about nine hours over two days after being granted a limited form of immunity to secure her participation in that interview, according to NBC News. Blanche has not released any information about their conversation but says he will do so at the proper time. At the time, Maxwell’s attorney Markus said that they did not ask for a pardon and one was not offered. However, Markus said it is no secret Maxwell is seeking “relief” from her 20 year prison sentence.

On Monday, President Trump said that while no one had approached him about a pardon for Maxwell, he did have the power to grant one. However a spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee ruled out the idea of granting Maxwell immunity: “The Oversight Committee will respond to Ms. Maxwell’s attorney soon, but it will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony.”

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Country Daypop

Jordan Davis releases ‘Turn This Truck Around’

Jordan Davis has released new track ‘Turn This Truck Around‘, written by Jordan Davis, Devin Dawson, Jake Mitchell, and Josh Thompson,

‘Turn This Truck Around’ is the latest taste of what fans can expect on Davis’ upcoming album ‘Learn the Hard Way’ which arrives on August 15th.  ‘Learn the Hard Way’ features the previously-released singles ‘Bar None’ and his RIAA Gold-certified single “I Ain’t Sayin’”.

Learn The Hard Way follows Davis’ debut album, ‘Home State’ and platinum-selling album ‘Bluebird Days’, which was released in 2023 and produced four consecutive #1 singles (‘What My World Spins Around’, ‘Tucson Too Late’, ‘Buy Dirt’ and ‘Next Thing You Know’).

Listen to ‘Turn This Truck Around’ – HERE.

Pre-save Learn The Hard WayHERE.

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Teddy Swims and BigXthaPlug collaborate on ‘All Gas No Brakes’

Teddy Swims has teamed up with rapper BigXthaPlug for their new single ‘All Gas No Brakes

All Gas No Brakes is one of six new tracks featured on the Swims’ new album, ‘I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Complete Edition)‘, which is comprised of 32 tracks.  It includes Swims’ first two albums, 2023’s ‘I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1)’, as well as (Part 2), which arrived back in January.

Swims is currently amid the latest North American leg of his I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy Tour, which he’ll follow with Australia and New Zealand dates in October. Tickets can be found HERE.

See the lyric video for ‘All Gas No Brakes’ – HERE.

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Entertainment Daypop

Season 3 of ‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon’ set to premiere Sept. 7

Season 3 of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon will premiere on AMC and AMC+ on Sept. 7.

Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride will once again reprise their roles of Daryl and Carol, zombie-apocalypse survivors in The Walking Dead universe.

A synopsis for Season 3 of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon reads: “As they struggle to find their way back, the path takes them farther astray, leading them through distant lands with ever-changing and unfamiliar conditions as they witness the various effects of the Walker apocalypse.”

Daryl Dixon Season 3 will take place in Spain, after two seasons in France. The ensemble cast will also include Eduardo Noriega, Óscar Jaenada and Alexandra Masangkay. Additional cast includes Candela Saitta, Hugo Arbués, Greta Fernández, Gonzalo Bouza, Hada Nieto, Yassmine Othman, Cuco Usín, and Stephen Merchant.

See the Season 3 trailer – HERE.

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Entertainment Daypop

See Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne in Season 2 trailer for Apple TV+ comedy ‘Platonic’

Apple TV+ is previewing the sophomore season of Platonic, starring Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne as friends for over two decades.

Rogen and Byrne make their long-awaited return as friends Will and Sylvia in a new trailer; two years since viewers last saw the co-stars reuniting for the small screen on their critically acclaimed series.  The official Season 2 synopsis reads: “The duo tries their best to be each other’s rock, but sometimes rocks break things.”

The trailer shows how Will’s new girlfriend impacts their platonic relationship. Sylvia laments to her husband (Luke Macfarlane) that it would take way too long to replace Will, so they have to figure out how to make it work. They enter into “appropriate” adult behavior, like couples dinners with Will and his new girlfriend.

Season 2 also stars Carla Gallo, Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney, Beck Bennett and Milo Manheim, and will premiere with two episodes on Aug. 6.  See the trailer: HERE.

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Suspect dead after NYC shooting kills four, including NYPD officer

Four people were killed, including an NYPD officer, and another man was critically injured in a shooting Monday evening inside a Midtown Manhattan office building, which houses the corporate offices of the National Football League and Blackstone.

The gunman was identified Monday night as Shane Tamura, a 27-year-old from Las Vegas. Police said he entered the skyscraper lobby on Park Avenue just before 6:30 p.m. EDT, and opened fire, before barricading himself on the 33rd floor. Tamura was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to officers, who said he acted alone.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the alleged shooter’s body was found next to a Palmetto State Armory AR-15 assault rifle. Tisch said Tamura “immediately opened fire on the NYPD officer” inside the lobby before shooting several other people and heading for the 33rd floor. Police later released a photo of Tamura as he walked into the building, carrying a long gun in a crowded area just blocks from the Museum of Modern Art and Grand Central Station.

According to the police commissioner, officers found more guns, ammunition and medication during a search of Tamura’s vehicle. Tamura drove cross-country Saturday through Monday, when he arrived in New York City in the late afternoon. Tisch said: “Surveillance video shows a male exit a double-parked black BMW on Park Avenue, between 51st and 52nd streets, carrying an M-4 rifle in his right hand as he walks toward the building’s entrance. The building’s security camera footage shows the shooter enter the lobby, turn right and immediately open fire on an NYPD officer. He then shoots a woman who took cover behind a pillar and proceeds through the lobby, spraying it with gunfire. He went up to the 33rd floor, where the offices of Rudin Management are located, and fired several rounds. One person was struck and killed on that floor. He then proceeds down a hallway and shoots himself in the chest.”

NYPD officials and NYC Mayor Eric Adams released the identity of the officer killed on Monday night: “Five innocent people shot tonight. We lost four souls to another senseless act of gun violence, including a member of the New York City Police Department, Officer Islam. He is an immigrant from Bangladesh and he loved this city. He was a true blue New Yorker, not only in the uniform he wore but in his spirit and energy of loving this city.” According to police, NYPD Officer Didarul Islam, 36, was a paid detail at the building. He was a three-and-a-half-year veteran of the department and leaves behind a wife, two young boys and a baby on the way.

Three other civilians were also killed; Adams added: “Two males and one female were killed and another male was seriously injured, fighting for his life in critical condition. Additionally, the shooter is dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

Police Commissioner Tisch said that: “Mr. Tamura has a documented mental health history. His motives are still under investigation and we are still trying to understand why he targeted this particular location. I want to extend my profound sympathies to all of the victims and their families and to the brave NYPD cops who today lost a brother.”

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Four suspects at large after mass shooting in Atlanta that left 1 dead, 10

Police are still searching for 4 suspects involved in a mass shooting that killed 1 and injured 10 early Monday in Atlanta, GA. Police are asking anyone with information to come forward as authorities search for those responsible.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said at a press conference that at around 1:27 a.m. EDT, three men and one woman opened fire on a crowd along a popular strip of bars near the Sweet Auburn neighborhood. The incident took place outside of 349 Edgewood Ave. NE, with police confirming that seven men and three women – all between the ages of 18 to 29 years old – were shot in the incident

Local Atlanta news outlet WKYT said that authorities have identified the man killed in the shooting as 27-year-old Santos J. Wyatt. The injured victims were taken to Grady Hospital for treatment, with an unidentified 18-year-old male listed in critical condition; the other victims are listed in stable condition. Police believe most of those injured in the incident were likely not targeted but instead caught in the crossfire.

Mayor Dickens said during a news conference Monday: “We haven’t had a weekend like this in a very long time, maybe two years or more. We know the summer months often bring some of the most challenging times when it comes to crime and gun violence in our communities.”

Police Chief Schierbaum said they are still seeking clarity on what prompted the shooting, stating that preliminary information so far shows the four suspects believed to be the shooters were “involved in a dispute that escalated to gunfire.”

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2 children killed after barge hits sailboat in Florida’s Biscayne Bay

Two children were killed after a large barge hit their sailboat near Hibiscus Island off Miami Beach on Monday morning. Hibiscus Island is a Miami Beach island in Biscayne Bay, across from the Port of Miami.

According to U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson Petty Officer 3rd Class Nicholas Strasburg, a third child on the boat was taken to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital and was unresponsive as of Monday afternoon, with a fourth child transported and listed in stable condition.

Lt. Pete Sanchez of Miami Fire Rescue said that a large barge hit the sailboat – part of a sailing camp at the Miami Yacht Club on Watson Island — and capsized around 11:15 a.m. between Monument and Hibiscus islands. Five children and a camp counselor were on board as passengers, with the impact causing the barge to go over the top of the sailboat, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the state police agency investigating the crash.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission issued the following statement: “On July 28, (FWC) officers responded to a two-vessel boating accident in Miami-Dade County, along with multiple law enforcement partners. Preliminary information indicates that a barge struck a sailing vessel carrying six people near Star Island in Miami Beach. All six victims, an adult female and five juveniles, were recovered from the water and transported to a local hospital for treatment.”

Authorities did not identify the children, but noted that are between the ages of 8 and 12. Paramedics took three of the children to Ryder Trauma Center Jackson Memorial Hospital in critical condition — two have since died, and the third is not responsive. A fifth was evaluated by paramedics at the Miami Yacht Club on Watson Island, where paramedics determined he did not need further care.

The Miami Yacht Club confirmed the crash on its Instagram account, writing: “The Miami Yacht Club can confirm that an incident occurred earlier today on the water involving participants of the Miami Youth Sailing Foundation. At this time, details are still emerging, and we are actively gathering all available facts.”

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Country Daypop

Riley Green launches new radio series ‘The 90s Country Show’ on Apple Music Country

Riley Green will launch his new six-episode radio series, The ’90s Country Show, on Apple Music Country, with the debut episode premiering this Wednesday, July 30 at 5 p.m. CT.

Green will bring listeners back in time to the ’90s, exploring some of the genre’s biggest hits from that time. Green will highlight his favorite tunes, discussing their impact on Green and country music overall.  He shared with Apple Music:  “I grew up on ’90s country—it’s the music that shaped who I am as an artist. This Apple Music show is a real full-circle moment for me,” he says. “I’m excited to take fans back to that era and maybe introduce a few new folks to the kind of country music that raised me.”

Green will take a look at the band Alabama on this week’s episode, and will also will share stories about his family. Tracy Lawrence and Billy Ray Cyrus also  join Green during the episode.

Riley Green’s The ’90s Country Show will be available on Apple Music Country, and available on-demand for Apple Music Subscribers (HERE) and on Apple Podcasts.

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