NFL commissioner Roger Goodell missed Thursday night’s Hall of Fame Game in Canton in order to pay his respects to one of the victims of Monday’s shooting in Manhattan.

Didarul Islam, a retired NYPD officer, was working a private security detail at 345 Park Avenue, the office complex that houses the NFL’s headquarters, when Shane Tamura walked into the lobby and opened fire with an AR-15-style firearm. Two others were killed in the same vicinity before the gunman headed for an elevator in order to access the NFL offices on floors 5-8.

Although Tamura was prevented from reaching his intended target by virtue of picking the wrong bank of elevators, his rampage continued with a fourth fatality on the 33^rd floor and the severe wounding of an NFL employee — the only member of league staff to be caught up in the incident before he turned the gun on himself, firing through his chest in order that his brain be preserved for research into CTE.

Materials relating to the brain condition were found in the gunman’s abandoned car, and were collected by NYPD officers, along with a note on his body blaming the NFL for not doing enough to prevent head trauma at all levels. Tamura only played at high school level, but believed that he was suffering similar symptoms to other CTE sufferers such as Terry Long, a former NFL player who succumbed to suicidal thoughts and was posthumously diagnosed with the condition.

“It’s a difficult thing [to reconcile being the target], particularly when you’re dealing with a senseless act like this,” Goodell told Football Night in America’s Mike Tirico. “There are no excuses for those senseless acts. They’re hard for all of us to understand [and] inflict pain on people you know, people you care about and people that we deal with on a daily basis.

“That’s particularly hard but, as you know, these acts of senseless violence and hatred are happening around our country and our world far too often — in schools and churches and synagogues and in other places that this should just not be happening.”

Stressing that the NFL would ‘do what we can to protect … our employees and our people’, starting with a notable increase in security at this weekend’s Hall of Fame ceremonies, Goodell said it was an easy decision to attend the funeral of someone those who worked at 345 Park Avenue knew well.

“First, it’s a tremendous loss,” he noted. “It’s something that happens in the line of work for police officers, but that never makes it easy. And, as somebody that we see outside the building when we come in most every day, it hits home. The unnecessary and unexplainable loss. All of us, as New Yorkers, feel great pride in the NYPD and the first responders and what they do, so it was a difficult, emotional afternoon, but also heartwarming.”

Goodell was able to give a positive update on the NFL employee wounded in the attack, reporting that he had visited him in hospital, where he remained stable, giving medical staff optimism over his likely recovery.

The Los Angeles Chargers triumphed in the commissioner’s absence, winning the Hall of Fame Game 34-7 over the Detroit Lions at the Tom Benson Stadium in Canton, Ohio. The game was a personal triumph for Chargers backup QB Trey Lance, who performed well through three quarters following his offseason move from Dallas, throwing a brace of touchdowns. Second-year running back Kimani Vidal, who is likely to be overshadowed by veteran Najee Harris and rookie Omarion Hampton when the regular season rolls around, also scored twice. Detroit’s lone reply came on a three-yard Craig Reynolds plunge in the second quarter.