What’s CTE? Explaining the disease cited by NYC gunman

The GIST: First and foremost, we mourn the four lives lost in Monday’s tragic Manhattan shooting. According to NYC mayor Eric Adams, the now-deceased gunman was targeting the NFL headquarters on Park Avenue in the attack, claiming to suffer from a degenerative brain disease referred to as CTE.

• Given the disease’s prevalence in the news today and beyond, we’re explaining what CTE is, why it’s a big problem in contact sports like football, and how it comes back to Monday’s attack.

🧠 What is CTE?: CTE stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy and is caused by repeated hits to the head. Symptoms of CTE include memory loss, depression, and impulsive behavior, but the condition can only be diagnosed in a posthumous autopsy.

🏈 How is CTE connected to football?: It’s no secret that football is a physical sport, but CTE only became a mainstream concern within the last decade. It took until 2016 for the NFL to acknowledge the link between football and CTE, and since then, the league has spent billions settling claims from retired players and exploring ways to limit future brain injuries.

• The Boston University CTE Center has found CTE in 91.7% of former NFL players who have posthumously donated their brains since the study began in 2008, including former Pittsburgh Steeler Terry Long, whom the gunman referred to in a note.

❓ Did the gunman play in the NFL?: No, he did not, but the 27-year-old shooter did play high school football in California. The NYC Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that they are assessing his brain in the autopsy, though it will take months to determine if he did, in fact, suffer from CTE.

• Furthermore, brain injury experts like Harvard Medical School’s Dr. Daniel H. Daneshvar warn against correlating violent behavior with CTE, clarifying that “the majority of people with CTE never engage” in such acts.