Thread: BLOODBATH at Immigration Center in NY!!

Update: This interesting information has been added to this story:

"But 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."

At least 12 killed at immigration center in NY

By WILLIAM KATES
Associated Press Writer

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP) -- A gunman opened fire on a room where immigrants were taking a citizenship exam in downtown Binghamton on Friday, killing as many as 13 people before committing suicide, officials said.

Gov. David Paterson said at a news conference that 12 or 13 people had been killed. The suspected gunman carried identification with the name of 42-year-old Jiverly Voong of nearby Johnson City, N.Y., a law enforcement official said.

The suspect's body was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in an office of the American Civic Association building, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and was talking on condition of anonymity.

The gunman barricaded the rear door of the building with his car before entering through the front door, firing his weapon, the official said.

Vice President Joe Biden, speaking at an event in New York, told the crowd that someone entered a room where an examination was being given from immigrants to become U.S. citizens, then shot and killed 12 or 13 people.

The Binghamton SWAT team responded, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was also sending agents to Binghamton.

The American Civic Association 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."

Two women and a man suffering gunshot wounds were being treated at Wilson Medical Center in Johnson City, said hospital spokeswoman Christina Boyd. One was stable, one was serious and one was critical. Their ages ranged from 20s to 50s, 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.

---

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers George M. Walsh and Chris Carola in Albany and Devlin Barrett in Washington.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/ ... SECTION=US

Here's a little more. His sister says is an American citizen and was going for language classes? That he has been here for 28 years?


Binghamton Rampage Leaves 13 Dead, Shooter's Sister Stunned
Shooter's Sister: 'He Shot Those People? No, No'
By RICHARD ESPOSITO, PIERRE THOMAS, RUSSELL GOLDMAN and SCOTT MICHELS

April 3, 2009 —

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 a shooting spree.

A senior law enforcement official told ABC News that 13 people were shot dead and 26 were wounded.

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. 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.

Officials said 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 officials said two weapons have been found. According to one police report a 9 millimeter pistol was recovered as SWAT team officers entered the building.

Several hours after the shooting began, hostages started exiting the building and police declared the gunman dead.

By 1:30 p.m., a number of people were seen being escorted out of the building by police. But police at that time appeared to be still treating the situation as an active one with a shooter possibly still at large.

One of the first sights that greeted police officers when they entered the American Civic Association, an organization that helps immigrants, was a receptionist, who had been shot in the head, police said.

Eye Witness Account

Eye witness 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.

Additonal reporting by Ned Potter and Ki Mae Heussner.

Copyright © 2009 ABC News Internet Ventures

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=7249853&page=1

I’m not saying the government did this shooting to inflame the public, but it is funny how events seem to precede legislation that just happens to be written and ready for debate.

And the Black Helicopters are going to come and take us away to interment camps that only you know about ?

Immigrants killing immigrants. So how is the OBL going to spin this in order to blame Americans?

Seems like most or all of the victims were legal immigrants, what a tragic story.

Originally Posted by Bowman

Immigrants killing immigrants. So how is the OBL going to spin this in order to blame Americans?

Seems like most or all of the victims were legal immigrants, what a tragic story.

There seems no rhyme or reason... If this man was an American citizen why?? Although sister does not say when he became a citizen. It still makes no sense that he was taking language classes after 28 years in the states and/or after he already had become a citizen.

Article says he had been recently laid off, but why come to this place for his rage?


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."

Originally Posted by fedupinwaukegan

It still makes no sense that he was taking language classes after 28 years in the states and/or after he already had become a citizen.

You actually don't need to be fluent in English to pass the citizenship test.
They only ask you ten questions. Either he was trying to improve his English or to meet Vietnamese women.

Oh that just made a light bulb go on, I bet this was about a woman there at the center.

What a mess...

Gun control, immigrant on immigrant crime, and unemployment combined.

The MSM will not know wether to "sh*t or go blind".

Bless the victims and their families.

If he was recently laid off from IBM there should be something showing up here eventually:
http://www.endicottalliance.org/jobcuts ... mments.php

There have been massive, usually stealthy, IBM layoffs recently, as IBM is pursuing a plan to offshore everything they can. There was also a recent weird story about IBM trying to file a patent for a business tool to analyze businesses in order to recommend offshoring, but they abruptly filed and withdrew the application.

Ive been watching this on FOX all day and it says nothing about his citizenship. But it makes me wonder why he would shoot people who are teaching or taking classes in English and citizenship.
And I agree with some of the other posters. People who want to mess with the 2nd amendment are going to try to point out the kind of weapons he had- high powered guns. He also had a knife on his belt too.

Originally Posted by fedupinwaukegan

Voong had recently been laid off from IBM in Johnson City,

I have never heard this last name before, it is not a normal Vietnamese last name, I bet he was one of their ethnic minorities ie. Montagnyard.