Blackstone Real Estate Exec Wesley LePatner Among 4 Killed In NYC Mass Shooting
Wesley LePatner, one of the leaders of the real estate team at Blackstone, was killed Monday evening in a mass shooting at the asset management giant's headquarters building in Manhattan. She was 43.
LePatner last year was named CEO of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, a $53B property fund, ascending from chief operating officer to replace the retiring Frank Cohen.
She joined the company in 2014 and also served as its global head of core-plus real estate, making her one of the most influential women in the U.S. commercial real estate industry.
“Words cannot express the devastation we feel. Wesley was a beloved member of the Blackstone family and will be sorely missed,” the firm told Bloomberg in an emailed statement Tuesday. “She was brilliant, passionate, warm, generous, and deeply respected within our firm and beyond.”
She was one of four people killed by a lone gunman who entered 345 Park Ave. around 6:30 p.m. Monday with an M4-style rifle and started spraying the skyscraper's lobby with bullets, according to police reports.
LePatner was killed in the lobby, where several other Blackstone employees were also injured, The Wall Street Journal reported. Photos of Blackstone workers barricading their office circulated widely on social media.
Two other people, New York Police Department officer Didarul Islam and building security guard Aland Etienne, were killed in the lobby, and a National Football League employee was injured.
The shooter, 27-year-old Shane Tamura, of Las Vegas, took the elevator to the 33rd floor, where the building's owner, Rudin Management, has its headquarters. Tamura killed a Rudin employee there before he shot himself, according to the NYPD. She was identified as Julia Hyman, a 25-year-old Rudin associate and alumna of Cornell University.
In a statement, the Rudin family said that the building is closed while the authorities continue their investigation.
“The Rudin family and everyone at our company are devastated by yesterday's senseless tragedy,” the statement says.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with those injured and lost last night, including our cherished Rudin colleague, a brave New York City police officer, a beloved lobby security guard and an employee at a tenant firm. We are grateful to the NYPD, FBI, EMS and multiple other emergency responders for their swift and courageous action.”
Mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference that the shooter appeared to be targeting the NFL, which is also headquartered in the building, but entered the wrong elevator.
Spokespeople for Blackstone didn't respond to Bisnow's request for comment.
“We are [devastated] for Julia’s friends and family,” Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff said in a statement. “This tragedy affected many Cornellians, including our faculty and staff who work nearby on Lexington Avenue, some of whom endured a lockdown. I can only imagine the anxiety felt by everyone in the vicinity of this frightening crime scene.”
Blackstone has been based out of the 44-story tower since 1988, when it first leased 70K SF. Last year, it expanded its footprint in the building from 750K SF to just over 1M SF. Under the lease, which runs through the end of 2034, the firm occupies 28 floors, or roughly 55% of the Midtown building.
In 2023, LePatner received the Alan C. Greenberg Young Leadership Award from the UJA-Federation of New York for her philanthropic leadership. At the awards dinner, Blackstone CEO Jon Gray applauded her support for other women of Wall Street.
“She pays it forward from generation to generation,” he said.
LePatner is survived by her husband, two children and her parents. Before Blackstone, she spent more than a decade working for Goldman Sachs.
Condolences and memorials began popping up on social media on Tuesday, hailing LePatner's talent and dedication to lifting up other women in the male-dominated field of commercial real estate.
“Wesley LePatner was so much more than an incredibly talented and smart real estate executive and manager. She had a pure heart, was humble, and always wanted to do what was right,” Olivia John, who worked with LePatner at Blackstone before founding investment firm Osso Capital, posted on LinkedIn. “She also advocated tirelessly for other women professionally.
“But at her core, she was a loving mom and wife. I always admired the life she had built for herself — a true partnership in marriage with her college sweetheart and two lovely kids, while absolutely dominating her professional life.”
Wes LePatner was one of the kindest and most brilliant people I knew. She was an incredible mentor to me when I was her analyst during my time at GS, and a deeply supportive friend ever since.
— Joshua Kushner (@JoshuaKushner) July 29, 2025
It is truly hard to comprehend such a senseless tragedy. My heart and prayers are with…
LePatner also supported groups that focused on youth health and education, like the Mount Sinai Children’s Center Foundation and The Hewitt School, she told Bisnow in a 2019 interview.
“I was brought up to believe that to those who much is given, much is required, which is why I strive to give back whenever I can,” LePatner said.
UPDATE, JULY 30, 12:35 P.M. ET: This story has been updated with the identity of the Rudin employee killed in the shooting.
Sasha Jones contributed to this story.
