Posted on 04/03/2009 3:06:49 PM PDT by neverdem
(Binghamton, N.Y. / ABC News) -- As many as 13 people have been shot dead and wounded dozens in a shooting rampage inside an upstate New York civic association building that caters to immigrants, according to federal and state authorities.
The gunman, Jiverly Voong, allegedly held dozens of people hostage for several hours before shooting himself to death, police said.
According to multiple state law enforcement officials, the gunman entered the one-story American Civic Association in downtown Binghamton about 10 a.m. today and began his shooting spree.
A senior law enforcement official told ABC News that 13 people were shot dead and 26 were wounded.
Officials said Voong entered the civic association armed with two heavy caliber automatic pistols -- a 9 mm and a .45 caliber handgun. He carried a bag filled with high capacity magazines, a survival knife and a flashlight, according to police.
Voong backed his car up to the rear door of the building to block any escape before he went to the front of the building and started to execute people, police said.
Voong, 41, also known as Linh Phat Voong, was from Johnson City, N.Y. He allegedly burst into the civic center wearing a bright green nylon jacket and dark-rimmed glasses and promptly shot the receptionist dead and then killed two other people. He then headed for another room of the civic association and opened fire again.
When the carnage was over, Voong's body was found on first the floor with a hunting knife jammed into the waistband of his pants.
"He shot those people? No. No," said a woman who identified herself as Voong's sister, but would not give her name when reached by ABC News.com.
She said her brother went to take classes today at the civic association and that she had not heard from him since. She said she did not know that he was involved in the shooting.
"I'm going to pass out," she said and hung up the phone.
Police also contacted Voong's sister to say her brother was dead. She told police that Voong was attending language classes at the civic center. She said Voong is a U.S. citizen and has been in this country for 28 years.
Voong had recently been laid off from IBM in Johnson City, U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, a Democrat whose district includes Binghamton, told the Associated Press. The gunman opened fire on a citizenship class, he said.
"People were there in the process of being tested for their citizenship," Hinchey said. "It was in the middle of a test. He just went in and opened fire."
Several hours after the shooting began, hostages started exiting the building and police declared the gunman dead.
By 1:30 p.m., police began escorting people out of the building, but continued to treat the building as a crime scene where the shooter might still be lurking.
Eyewitness Account Eyewitness Nick Masucci, a community college student and Binghamton resident, said he watched as many as 20 people exit the building and get patted down by police.
"They look like immigrants, lots of different cultures coming out of there. Some people are getting patted down. The police are taking a lot of precautions, they're still taking cover," he said.
Several people were removed from the building on stretchers. Others left with their hands on their heads and were searched by police.
City councilman Martin Gerchman said he recently returned from the scene and said it looked like the building was "secure."
Earlier today police called Broome Community College to find someone who could speak fluent Vietnamese to "assist police with translation," said college spokesman Richard David.
Police, he said, did not indicated whether the translator, Professor Tuong Nguyen, was needed to speak with the shooter or with hostages, but believed the professor would be talking with the shooter.
Wilson Medical Center, the closest hospital to the site of the shootings, said three patients had been sent to its trauma center, one of them in critical condition.
One patient, according to a spokeswoman, had been brought to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.
"We're on full alert anticipating we're going to get additional casualties," hospital spokeswoman Linda Miller said.
FBI Sent Hostage Negotiators People were told in nearby buildings to stay away from windows and Binghamton High School is under a lock-down as police are using the school as a staging area. The school is a block and a half away from the shooting site.
Ten ambulances were called to the scene and an FBI hostage rescue team is reportedly on the way.
"The FBI is providing assistance to the Binghamton Police Department," FBI spokesman Rich Kolko said. "FBI Albany has sent Hostage Negotiators, Evidence Response Team and Command Post assistance. This is a rapidly developing situation and we refer you to the Binghamton Police Department for any additional information."
The FBI and New York State Police sent hostage negotiators, evidence collection teams and investigators to support the efforts of the Binghamton police in securing the scene, collecting the evidence and guiding hostages and people who hid from the gunman to safety.
New York Gov. David Paterson said, "We are monitoring the situation and I have directed the State Police to assist the Binghamton Police Department in any way they can."
At the time of the shooting the civic association was holding citizenship classes.
FTR:
Here in Binghamton we probably have the worst tragedy and senseless crime in the history of this city," Gov. David Paterson said at the news conference from the gritty river city, about 150 miles from New York. "We all have a profound sadness and sorrow." LA Times)ML/NJ
I saw at 5:30 that ABC is going to make this into another “diversity” sing-song and preach about gun control.
They didn’t dare go near the fact that the gunman’s name sounded foreign.
Automatic? You mean semi automatic
Our purveyor of Blind Justice, David Paterson, has already politicized this for BO and the Democrats
And by the way, further demonstrating that the news media is chicken mere is this...the Secretary PLAYED DEAD and was the one who called 911. Take that ABC!
All the sisters speak English with no trace of an accent. Only her mother has any difficulty with the language, and that's because she has always worked with other Vietnamese refugees.
How many more Americans will die because of gun control? There ought to be a "death count" website called "Victims of Gun Control".
If your friends think gun control "had nothing to do with it", have them Google "Burger King Miami" to see how it only took one customer with a concealed permit to take out the illegal alien lowlife who tried to rob the Burger King. It only took one person with a gun to stop the VT and Binghampton maniacs.
See comment# 31. Thanks for the link.
Sad a lot of folks won’t be home tonight for dinner with their families......... as unemployment rises more screws will be working themselve loose.
Prayers continuing for all the devastated families, victims, loved ones, and friends...
You know I made an off-hand remark on the last thread when someone mentioned the shooter might be Hmong. It occurred to me that maybe the events of the last 24-48 hours could drive someone who has already lived through what Communism leads to into a rage, or leaving them feel hopeless...
Of course, this doesn’t mean I support or condone the killing of innocent people. I just have a funny feeling that now that the NWO is a reality we are going to see a lot more things like this happening. AND, as we all know the truth isn’t always something we will hear in the media - especially now... Best to pray for everyone - including the shooters, IMHO.
One has to wonder why the first cops on the scene didn’t go in and stop this guy.
We need to keep our eyes peeled for other changes in the reporting of these events as well through the media...
I’m referring to what happened the day of the OKC bombing, when 3 suspects suddenly turned into ONE, and he was caught... It was THE day I, personally, realized that our media didn’t tell us the truth... (I was still in my 20s, and didn’t yet believe that all these people could lie, and push an agenda like they do...).
[Read Jayna Davis’ “The Third Terrorist” for more info. on the media coverage that day...]
The article just said he was "taking classes". It's possible he was taking something other than English classes, like perhaps a resume-writing class.
LLS
IBM hired lots of technicians in the 80s and 90s without good language skills. I've spent many hours over the last 10 years trying to understand some of them! Political correctness has run amock at IBM - "soft skills" (like speaking and writing English well) have gone over the side in the name of "diversity". After all, isn't "diversity" our strength?
Technicians such as those found in the groups above would not necessarily need to know conversational English, so long as they could write a halfway intelligible sentence and do their jobs.
Not all the technicians in other countries speak English well, nor are they required to. So be prepared for increased frustration and delays when dealing with Big Blue.
IBM will probably buy that Indian outsourcing firm and move all their services jobs to India. The handwriting for this has been on the wall for a long time.
April 15? And BTW, Waco & the OKC bombing & Columbine happened in April too.
Voong, 41, also known as Linh Phat Voong,..."
Linh Phat Vong is a Vietnamese name. Voong is probably the result of trying to transliterate Vietnamese. See comment# 1.
Yes, semi-automatic pistol is correct. I just noticed in the ABC News article above that they qoute the source as saying... “Officials said Voong entered the civic association armed with two heavy caliber automatic pistols — a 9 mm and a .45 caliber handgun.”
So ‘automatic pistol’ is sometimes wrongly used...as far as I know, it is actually like a compact submachine gun. Big difference there...they should make that clear.
And then ABC’s Dianne Sawyer plaintively asked, is the Justice Department going to do anything about it?
He probably already had the “report” written based on the presence of an “assult rifle” when he found out there was no “assault rifle.” The shooter only had two ordinary handguns and some standard capacity spare mags. So he believed that the reporting “needed” to be sensationalized with hyperbole.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but if they’re talking about a .45 wouldn’t it be “clips”, or are they still “magazines”? And, “High Capacity”? It’s not like a .45 can hold what, more than 7-9 rounds at a time, at the most? (I’m trying to remember the firearm my Dad had when I was growing up — his 1911A). I guess 9 rounds is a bigger number than say a “6-shot” revolver, but it’s not what I would consider “High Capacity”...
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