Ben McCrum
The former teammate of an ex-footballer who is the chief suspect in a brutal New York shooting that led to four deaths has spoken out.
Late on Monday night, police believe that Shane Devon Tamura opened fire in a Manhattan office building having travelled across the country from his home in Nevada.
Police reports stated that the 27-year-old walked into the building, which houses the NFL headquarters, and opened fire in the lobby with an M4 rifle before doing the same on the 33th floor where he later killed himself.
The shocking attack led to four people losing their lives, with police currently working to determine exactly what Tamura's motive might have been.
And now, one of Tamura's former classmates during his time as a competitive football player during his time at the high school has revealed his peers' prediction about him.
Although Tamura's motive for the attack isn't yet confirmed, it has been reported that he left a note at the scene in which he wonders if the chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) that suffered when he played football could have impacted his mental health.
But when speaking with NBC News, Caleb Clarke, a former classmate and high school football teammate, said that he was never aware of Tamura's mental illness and never could have expected him to commit such an awful act.
“He was the biggest goofball in the world, just a ton of energy, class clown,” Clarke said.
"You never would have thought violence was something you’d associate with him. You know, he could make a joke about people, but that’s just typical. Shane was a jokester. Everything he said was a joke. He had a ton of energy.”
Clarke played alongside Tamura in California and went on to admit that the whole team felt that Tamura was 'destined' to do big things in the sport, with some even predicting that he would reach the NFL.
“I feel like it was definitely on the table for him,” Clarke stated.
“I don’t think he walked around to be like, ‘Oh, I’ll have NFL games one day.’ I think it was more of everybody just telling him how great he was ... how special he was.”
Ultimately, Clarke lost touch with Tamura when the suspect transferred from a Santa Clarita high school to Grenada Hills High School in 2015.
Since then, Clarke admitted that he had only kept up with his former teammate through social media, claiming that Tamura had been working at a casino in Las Vegas.