10/28/2025
𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗕𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
Just before 6:25 p.m. on July 28, 2025, the driver of a black BMW double-parked his car on the street in front of 345 Park Avenue in NYC, exited the vehicle with an assault rifle in his right hand, walked into the lobby, and began shooting.
At 6:26 p.m., an AI weapons-detection system spotted the approaching shooter before entry, but it did not alert all building occupants.
At 6:28 p.m., the first 911 calls arrived — there would be 113 in all. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝟵𝟭𝟭 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝗻𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿, 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝘀, 𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲.
Four minutes after the first 911 call was received, unknowing tenant employees looking down from their windows observed police officers storming toward the building.
𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝘆 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗿, 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲, 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴.
As tenant representatives (likely the first person the custodian encountered) were informed of the danger by custodians, they, in turn, had to communicate with their employees, who then sought shelter and tried to gain situational awareness.
“𝗛𝗶 𝗜’𝗺 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺,” 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗿/𝗔𝘀𝗸𝗡𝗬𝗖. “𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴.”
The City issued a shelter-in-place order via mass notification, urging all occupants of the building and those in the immediate area to remain indoors and away from windows. Police on-site used the building's PA system to advise tenants and office workers to lock doors, stay away from windows, and remain in secure areas until tactically evacuated.
Multi-tenant commercial buildings, whether office buildings or shopping malls, need to communicate with everyone on-site and have redundancy in case the primary communication point is compromised, as happened here. And tenant safety, security, and key points of contact — need a way to communicate with, receive information from, and account for their employees, whether they are in the building or out—𝗪𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵.