President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he was briefed on the Monday night mass shooting in New York City, saying his “heart was with” the four people killed.
“I trust our Law Enforcement Agencies to get to the bottom of why this crazed lunatic committed such a senseless act of violence,” he wrote in a Truth Social post.
The motive for the shooting — which took place in the building that contains headquarters for the NFL and Blackstone, among other businesses — remains unclear. Four people were killed, including Blackstone employee Wesley LePatner and New York police officer Didarul Islam, in the deadliest shooting in the city in 25 years. The gunman also shot and killed himself.
Trump noted he was thinking about the police officer killed, saying he made the “ultimate sacrifice.”
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), who represents the precinct in the Bronx where Islam worked, also praised the officer.
“Every New Yorker just owes an enormous debt of gratitude to the NYPD, because, but for the bravery of that officer, more people could have been killed,” Torres said in a CNN interview.
The gunman drove from his home in Las Vegas to New York to carry out the shooting, authorities said, which he conducted with an M4 rifle.
