US siege gunman kills at least 12

  • Wanna Join? New users you can now register lightning fast using your Facebook or Twitter accounts.
2-0-Sixx

2-0-Sixx

Sicc OG
#1
May 13, 2002
49,944
47,801
113
44
Seattle
www.socialistworld.net
#1

A gunman has killed at least 12 people after taking dozens hostage in the US state of New York, the governor says.

The suspected gunman was later found dead inside the immigration centre in Binghamton, federal officials told the Associated Press news agency.



At least 26 people were injured during the shooting, north-west of New York City, reports said.

The governor of New York state, David Paterson, said it was "a tragic day for New York".

Mr Paterson confirmed that 12 or 13 people had been killed.

"This is a horrible situation. There's actually no reason or excuse for this kind of shooting and brutal attack of innocent people right here in New York state," he said.

See map of the area

Local Mayor Matthew Ryan told reporters the gunman was carrying a high-powered rifle.



Two other people seen being led away by police in plastic handcuffs during the incident are not believed to be suspects.

The gunman used his car to barricade the building's back door before bursting in the front door, firing his weapon, the unnamed official told AP.


About 15 or so employees came out crying with their hands behind their heads
Eyewitness

A spokeswoman for Our Lady of Lourdes hospital told the BBC several people had been admitted with serious injuries.

Susan Linerode said the hospital was expecting to receive more casualties and staff had been told to stay at work.

Eyewitnesses described seeing some people fleeing the building.

"About 15 or so employees of the Civic Association came out crying with their hands behind their heads," one witness told Binghamton's WNBF Radio.

"They were escorted by the police and they took them to ambulances and took them away," he said.

Rifle

Witnesses reported seeing a man entering the building during the morning. He was described as being of Asian appearance, in his 20s, and wearing a bright green nylon jacket and dark-rimmed glasses.

The Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin said homes nearby had been evacuated and a police commando unit was at the scene.

It said apartments and a nearby school and care home were under lockdown and some streets had been sealed off.

Bob Joseph of WNBF Radio told the BBC the town had never experienced an incident on such a scale before.

The ACA says on its website that it assists immigrants and refugees with personal and immigration counselling.







RECENT US SHOOTINGS
March 2009: A gunman kills a total of 11 people in a series of shootings southern Alabama
Dec 2008: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus kills nine people and himself on Christmas Eve in LA
Sept 2008: Six people die in a series of shootings in the north-west of Washington state
June 2008: A worker at a plastics plant in Kentucky kills five people before killing himself
Apr 2007: 32 people and the gunman die at the Virginia Tech campus
 
2-0-Sixx

2-0-Sixx

Sicc OG
#2
May 13, 2002
49,944
47,801
113
44
Seattle
www.socialistworld.net
#2
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. - A gunman walked into an immigrant services center and opened fire on Friday, killing 15 people before he killed himself, law enforcement sources told NBC News.

Earlier, Gov. David Paterson put the number of dead at 12 to 13.

A federal law enforcement official said the suspected gunman was found dead in the building of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The man carried identification with the name of 42-year-old Jiverly Voong of nearby Johnson City, N.Y., a law enforcement official said. Sources later told NBC's Pete Williams that the name Voong, as well as another surname initially reported, was an alias.

"I speak for all of New York when I offer my prayers for the victims and families of this tragedy," Paterson said hours after the gunman shot several people and took dozens hostage. The gunman first blocked the back door with his car, authorities said.

Rep. Maurice Hinchey, whose district includes Binghamton, said the gunman had recently been let go from IBM in Johnson City and opened fire on a citizenship class.

"People were there in the process of being tested for their citizenship," Hinchey said in a telephone interview. "It was in the middle of a test. He just went in and opened fire."

Authorities scheduled a news conference for Friday afternoon.

At least 41 people were in the American Civic Association building at the time of the shooting and that citizenship classes had been scheduled Friday at the center, The Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin reported.

Mayor Matthew Ryan initially said the gunman had a high-powered rifle but law-enforcement sources later told NBC that he had actually used two handguns.

The suspect was described as a man in his 20s between 5 feet, 8 inches, and 6 feet tall, wearing a bright green nylon jacket and dark-rimmed glasses.

Police locked down a nearby high school and advised local business owners to stay inside.

Rich Griffith, who works across the street from the hostage scene, said he saw three people carried out of the building on stretchers alive.

Binghamton, with a population around 45,000, is about 150 miles northwest of New York City. The American Civic Association helps immigrants in the area with naturalization applications, counseling, resettlement, citizenship, family reunification and translators.

Mary Pat Hyland, who teaches classes at the center, told MSNBC that many of the immigrants served there are from Vietnam and Laos. "We have a very diverse ethnic area," she said.

The association’s president, Angela Leach, “is very upset right now,” said Mike Chanecka, a friend who answered a call at her home as Leach wept in the background.

“She doesn’t know anything; she’s as shocked as anyone,” Chanecka said. “For some reason, she had the day off today. And she’s very worried about her secretary.”

At least six hospitalized
Five people with gunshot wounds were being treated at Wilson Medical Center in Johnson City, according to hospital spokeswoman Christina Boyd.

The wounded ranged in age from 20 to their mid-50s, and their conditions ranged from stable to critical, she said.

Linda Miller, a spokeswoman at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton, confirmed that a student from Binghamton University was being treated in the emergency room.

Around 1 p.m. ET, Pennie Kerber, 72, told the AP in a phone call from her home across the street that the scene appeared to be settling down.

"The cops are all standing around in the front now. They're still all over the roof for sure," she said. "The SWAT shooters that were to the side of the building look like they're not there anymore."

Redeemer Lutheran Church in Binghamton planned a prayer vigil on Friday night for those affected by the shooting.
 
RobVan

RobVan

Sicc OG
#5
Jul 24, 2008
1,247
0
0
34
#5
Recently:
— Covina, California. December 2008. A man dressed in a Santa Claus suit opens fire at a family Christmas party at his ex-wife's home and then sets fire to the house. Nine people are killed in the home. The gunman later kills himself.

— Geneva County and Coffee County, Alabama. March 12 2009. In a shooting spree that tears through several towns, a 28-year-old out-of-work man kills 10 people, including his mother and a toddler.

— North Carolina. March 29, 2009. A heavily-armed gunman shoots dead eight people, many elderly and sick patients, in a North Carolina nursing home.

— Santa Clara, California, March 30, 2009. Six people are shot dead in an apparent murder-suicide at a home in an upscale Silicon Valley neighborhood.

— Binghamton, New York. April 3, 2009. Up to 13 people are killed as a gunman goes on a rampage at a civic center in the town of Binghamton.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom