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Blackstone's Wesley LePatner among victims, firm expresses

heartbreak

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Gunman opened fire in Midtown Manhattan office building

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Blackstone's NYC office closed, Zoom call scheduled for

staff

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

NEW YORK, July 29 (Reuters) - 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.