Binghamton Rampage: Gunman, 13 Others Dead

[Deer Hunter]

http://wcbstv.com/breakingnewsalerts/binghamton.hostage.shooting.2.975228.html

Binghamton Rampage: Gunman, 13 Others Dead
Officials: No Hostage Situation -- A 'Classic Spree Killing'
Gunman Identified As Jiverly Voong, 42, Of Johnson City
Voong Recently Let Go From Job At IBMBINGHAMTON, N.Y. (CBS) ―
Click to enlarge
Law enforcement officials stand outside the American Civic Association where a gunman killed at least 12 people on April 3, 2009, in Binghamton, N.Y., before turning the gun on himself.
Mike Groll/Getty Images




A gunman opened fire at an immigration services center in downtown Binghamton on Friday, killing 13 others before taking his own life, in what's being described as a "classic spree killing," according to CBS News correspondent Bob Orr.

A law enforcement official says the gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Authorities say the rampage began when the gunman barricaded the rear door of the American Civic Association building with his car before entering through the front door, firing his weapon, the official said.

Orr said a senior law enforcement official told him after entering the front of the building, the gunman shot the receptionist in head and killed two others at front desk.

Officials said the receptionist had played dead after being shot, and heroically called police, before she apparently later passed away.

The official then said the gunman went to the southwest corner of the building where citizenship tests were being taken. There he shot 11 people and then killed himself. Others in the building hid and barricaded themselves before SWAT teams swept through the building.

Thirty-seven people who were in the building survived the attack.

The official said the gunman, who was also carrying a bag with two guns -- a 9 mm with an extended clip, and a .45 mm, never took any hostages. He was also carrying a bag that had survival gear, extra ammunition and a hunting knife.

The dead gunman was carrying identification with the name Jiverly Voong, age 42, from upstate New York, reports CBS News correspondent Bob Orr. He apparently acted alone although investigators are still questioning a number of people who were inside. The motive is not known.

The name is an alias that the man has used in the past, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and was talking on condition of anonymity

Voong had recently worked at IBM, but was let go.

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

A woman who answered the phone at a listing for Henry D. Voong said she was Jiverly Voong's sister but would not give her name.

Asked if she was aware that he might have been involved in the shooting, she said: "How? He didn't have a gun. I think somebody involved, not him. I think he got shot by somebody else."

"I think there's a misunderstanding over here because I want to know, too," she said.

Evidence teams are collecting forensic samples and police have recovered two handguns, Orr reports. Officials cannot confirm early reports that the shooter had a high-powered rifle.

Ten people were released from the building shortly after noon, with hands on their heads and were searched by police, the newspaper reported. Around 12:40 p.m., another 10 people were released from the back of the building, wrapped in white sheets and appeared shaken.

"This is a tragic day for New York," said New York Governor David Paterson. "I speak for all of New York when I offer my prayers for the victims and families of this tragedy."

The American Civic Association is an organization that helps immigrants in the Binghamton area with naturalization applications, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The association describes itself as helping immigrants and refugees with counseling, resettlement, citizenship, family reunification and translators.

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."

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, said a student from Binghamton University was being treated there.

The shooting occurred in a mixed neighborhood of homes and small businesses in the center of Binghamton, a city of about 47,000 located 140 miles northwest of New York City.

College student Leslie Shrager told the AP that she and her five housemates were sleeping when police pounded on the front door of their house next door to the shooting scene.

Officers escorted the six Binghamton University students outside, she said, and that's when they learned of the shooting.

"One of our housemates thought they heard banging of some kind. But when you're living in downtown Binghamton, it's always noisy," said Shrager, of Slingerlands, an Albany suburb. "Literally two minutes later the cops came and got us out."

At the junction of the Susquehanna and the Chenango rivers, the Binghamton area was the home to Endicott-Johnson shoe company and the birthplace of IBM, which between them employed tens of thousands of workers before the shoe company closed a decade ago and IBM downsized in recent years.

 

[General Geoff]

Man, what is up with all the shooting sprees lately?

 

[dobrzemetal]

I don't know if im just a cold hearted bastard but I've become really desensitized to this kind of crap, Its just not really surprising to me.

 

[Min]

I saw the news. Prayers for the victims and their families.

I really really hope there is a hell for people like this shooter.

 

[USAFNoDAk]

The official said the gunman, who was also carrying a bag with two guns -- a 9 mm with an extended clip, and a .45 mm

Wow. That's a tiny round. That would be 1/20th of about 35.4 caliber or 1.77 caliber which is .0177 inches. What does it shoot, stick pins with the head removed? I know they meant 45 caliber or .45", but it's still fun to poke fun at journalists who are willfully ignorant when it comes to firearms, yet they report on crimes involving firearms as if they're experts on the topic.

 

[telomerase]

Remember, when you lose your job with IBM:

Don't update your resume.

Don't try to learn new skills.

Don't look for another job.

Don't start a business.

Just go kill a few defenseless people while they're taking tests.

It's the American way! (Actually, a REAL American would have gotten billions in bailout money instead of losing their job, but we can't all be that kind of American.)

 

[Flea]

Here comes the new wave of feel-good gun legislation!

 

[MTMilitiaman]

Let me guess, this was allowed to happen because of NYC's lax gun control laws?

We need to disarm more sheep and turn more of the populace into victims to protect them, right?

 

[Carl]

I bet the Brady Campaign is really happy today because now they have a new incident to use against us and say that we need more gun control. Because obviously all the previous gun control laws are working.

 

[Sergeant Sabre]

Let me guess, this was allowed to happen because of NYC's lax gun control laws?

Of course not. It was the lax gun control laws in areas around NYC.

 

[ShadyScott999]

I bet the Brady Campaign is really happy today because now they have a new incident to use against us and say that we need more gun control. Because obviously all the previous gun control laws are working.
__________________

It's already on their website.

 

[MTMilitiaman]

"Our hearts go out..."

Yeah right. Talk about exploiting the suffering of others.

 

[Animal Mother]

The shooter backed his car up to the rear entrance to trap people and then went into the building and started shooting. Clearly he wanted to inflict maximum casualties.


When will the government learn that that by creating victim disarmament zones and having overly restrictive CCW laws they create conditions that are ripe for these massacres? Citizens have a right to defend themselves from scum like Voong.

 

[4Freedom]

Dunno who is talking about him using handguns, this news source says he used a high powered rifle:

http://www.news10.net/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=57298&provider=top


Another whacked out asian shooter.. Sounds like a Vietnamese name, he must have had some beef with some people at the immigration center. I am actually thankful the guy was a minority, because if he wasn't, they would have said this was a racially motivated shooting. Sounds like he must have had beef with either his former employer, ex-spouse, old friends, etc and just went insane. One thing I notcie about these asian shooters is they are usually very effective in scoring a lot of casualties, don't if it is by chance or what.

THis is horribly sad.. PRayers for families, prayers for gun owners.. Hope no one will chew me out, but I think seeing how things are going we are going to end up needing security guards around each building. Law enforcement doesn't do much more than clean up the bodies. When I was visiting Africa, I noticed that all the businesses had armed guard with AK-47s and other types of rifles, not just handguns. They knew threats were always around and never took a moment to lax their security. Sorry, in this day and age, I think this is the only solution.

 

[rbernie]

What can we say here that we didn't say the last time, or the time before?

Let's please just give it a rest.