Roger Goodell was emotional on Thursday as he publicly addressed the deadly shooting that took place inside 345 Park Avenue, the building that houses the NFL’s New York offices, earlier this week.
The NFL commissioner did not attend Thursday’s Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio, but was back in New York attending the funeral of slain NYPD officer Didarul Islam, who, along with Blackstone exec Wesley LePatner, security guard Aland Etienne and Rudin Management employee Julia Hyman, were killed when a madman opened fire with an AR-15.
“It’s a difficult thing, particularly when you’re dealing with a senseless act like this,” Goodell said during an interview with NBC. “There are no excuses for those senseless acts. They’re hard for all of us to understand when it inflicts pain on people you know and people you care about and people that we deal with on a daily basis. That’s particularly hard.”
A suicide note found on 27-year-old Shane Tamura’s body suggested that he was targeting the offices of the NFL after he believed he was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
It has not yet been determined if he had CTE.
Funeral services were held on Thursday for Islam that included a heartfelt eulogy by NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
During the Thursday night interview, Goodell described Islam’s death as a “tremendous loss.”
“You see the officer’s family, his young children. It’s something that happens in the line of work for police officers but that never makes it easy,” Goodell said. [He is] somebody who we see outside the building when we come in most every day and it hits home — the loss, the unnecessary and unexplainable loss. It’s something that all of us, as New Yorkers, feel great pride in the NYPD and what they do and all the first responders. So, it was a difficult, emotional afternoon, but also a tremendous, heartwarming service for him.”
While Goodell hoped that Thursday’s preseason game was a first step in a process for people to “enjoy the National Football League,” the league still has one of its own recovering from the harrowing incident.
NFL employee Craig Clementi was injured during the senseless shooting, and Goodell said the staffer was “stable and improving.” The commissioner said he had spent an hour with Clementi in the hospital on Wednesday.
“We’re optimistic about his recovery and I think that’s good news for all of us in the NFL,” Goodell said. “Obviously, our hearts continue to be in support with his family.”
The NFL has already prepared its New York staffers to work from home through at least Aug. 8 following the shooting.
