Employees across America shaken by deadly office attack: What to know to stay safe

When a gunman opened fire at 345 Park Avenue, panic spilled out of the Manhattan skyscraper, reaching many Americans working far from the glass towers of corporate New York.

Patrick Timlin, CEO of SilverSEAL Corporation and a veteran of both law enforcement and private security, told Fox News Digital that security “is not just for skyscrapers, but for the town hall in a small county, a school, or a mom-and-pop grocery store.”

Timlin wants everyday professionals, from software engineers in suburban office parks to receptionists in distribution centers, to realize that the most effective defense starts with simplicity, consistency, and awareness. 

“Stress-free, not fear-based,” he said. “You empower people when you train them.”

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For Timlin, the most effective workplace security measures don’t come from fear-driven protocols or flashy gadgets. 

“It’s not about paranoia,” he says. “It’s about awareness.”

He points to one of the most overlooked safety gaps: employees not knowing their own office layout. 

“You’d be surprised how many people take the elevator to the third floor every day, grab coffee, and don’t have any clue where the emergency exits are,” Timlin explains. “That’s a problem.”

He advised employees to know your exits, know your options if forced to exit and walk the space to keep an eye on potentially hiding spots.

He recommended that organizations adopt the “Run, Hide, Fight” framework from the Department of Homeland Security and tailor it to their office.

“You might not get to choose the order,” he adds, “but you should know the principles.”

“Training doesn’t need to frighten people. It just needs to stick,” Timlin says. “Done right, it’s stress-free, not fear-based. That’s how you empower people.”

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Before investing the latest in the tech space, Timlin encouraged companies to invest in a risk assessment of the office space and create a measured plan to accommodate safety gaps.

“Don’t start buying widgets off the shelf that you don’t need,” he said. “They’re going to gather dust, and people are going to forget about it.”

He shared that he’s created a risk assessment plan and often companies miss the obvious — and free — options.

“If you fortify three sides of the house and the back door is still open, you missed something,” he said. “Just by locking the doors—something that costs nothing—you can close major gaps. You’d be surprised how often we see that.”

Timlin emphasized that a security program should be a “living, breathing thing.”

“Security mitigation services should be evidence-based, not cookie-cutter,” he said. “It needs to be meaningful and manageable. That’s what I call M&M.”

Whether in a Manhattan skyscraper or a suburban office park, safety starts with awareness, preparation, and compassion. 

“You empower people when you train them,” Timlin said. “This isn’t about paranoia. It’s about knowing your exits, locking the back door, and looking out for one another.”

Recent Incidents:

Two high-profile acts of violence, less than a year apart, have dramatically reshaped how corporate America thinks about workplace safety.

On Monday, a gunman opened fire at 345 Park Avenue in Manhattan, killing four and injuring several others. The attacker, 27-year-old Shane Devon Tamura, entered the office tower with an assault rifle and body armor, fatally shooting a security guard, a Blackstone executive, a Rudin Management associate, and an off-duty NYPD officer before taking his own life. 

Surveillance footage showed employees barricading themselves in offices.

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Just eight months earlier, on Dec. 4, 2024, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was ambushed and shot outside a hotel ahead of an investor event.

The gunman, identified as Luigi Mangione, allegedly planned the attack in advance. Authorities described it as a targeted assassination.

In Chesapeake, Virginia in 2022, Andre Marcus Bing, a 31-year-old Walmart supervisor, opened fire in a break room, killing six coworkers before turning the gun on himself. Bing had complained of harassment and left behind a manifesto filled with resentment. 

A few months later, in Half Moon Bay, California in 2023, Chunli Zhao, a 66-year-old farmworker, killed seven colleagues at two agricultural sites after expressing grievances over mistreatment and wages. That attack, carried out in a rural setting with limited oversight, highlighted how even small, tight-knit operations are not immune to internal violence.

Then in Louisville, Kentucky in 2023, Connor Sturgeon, a 25-year-old bank employee facing termination, walked into a staff meeting and killed five coworkers while live-streaming the assault.