Wall Street returns to work after Manhattan shooting that killed Blackstone executive

A sign for The Blackstone Group L.P. investment firm stands in front of their offices, Oct. 15, 2018, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

NEW YORK — Bankers and traders returned to work on a somber Tuesday morning in Midtown Manhattan, New York’s financial epicenter, one day after a shooting that killed several people, including a senior Blackstone executive.

The investment firm’s offices, however, were closed on Tuesday after it said Wesley LePatner, a senior Blackstone executive, was among those killed by a man who walked into the lobby of a Park Avenue office building where the company’s New York headquarters are located and opened fire on Monday.

“We are heartbroken to share that our colleague, Wesley LePatner, was among those who lost their lives in the tragic incident at 345 Park Avenue. Words cannot express the devastation we feel,” the company said in a statement.

The shooting happened just as employees were getting ready to leave for the day. A gunman, whom police identified as Shane Tamura, 27, walked into the office building that also houses the NFL headquarters, accounting firm KPMG, and real estate company Rudin Management, and opened fire, killing several people, including LePatner and a New York City police officer. He then went to the building’s 33rd floor, where he killed himself, according to police.

KPMG’s offices will also be closed on Tuesday, the company told Reuters.

Most financial firms’ offices throughout New York have security desks, with many restricting usage of elevators to those with security passes, but lobby access is less restricted. That may change in the aftermath of this incident. Rudin Management, which owns the building, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A Goldman Sachs spokesperson told Reuters the company has “robust security protocols” throughout its buildings, and the firm is “constantly assessing their effectiveness to ensure they reflect best practices, especially based on recent events.”

Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman and President Jon Gray wrote a note to staff on Monday calling the day the “worst day in the firm’s 40 year history,” according to sources who saw the memo. Later on Tuesday morning, Blackstone will hold a Zoom call, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

LePatner was a senior managing director at the firm, global head of core+ real estate, and CEO of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, the firm said. She joined Blackstone in 2014 from Goldman Sachs, according to the company’s website. She graduated with highest honors from Yale and was married in 2006, according to a wedding announcement in the New York Times.

Blackstone colleagues said they were shaken by the death of their colleague, who was called “brilliant, passionate, warm, generous, and deeply respected within our firm and beyond,” in the statement.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; additional reporting by Saeed Azhar and Sami Marshak; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Nick Zieminski and Rod Nickel)