VIDEO: Crazed gunman kills 13
A GUNMAN shot dead up to 13 people after going on the rampage at an immigration centre yesterday.
The gunman Jiverly Voong, a 42-year-old of Vietnamese origin, stormed the centre and began shooting with a high-powered rifle before taking 41 hostages.
In addition to the dead, up to 26 people were injured in the carnage. A receptionist is believed to have been one of his first victims. The gunman – from nearby Johnson City – was later found dead inside the building after killing himself.
Hundreds of children in a nearby high school and patients in a nursing home just yards away were kept indoors as police Swat teams surrounded the centre.
Two hours after the shooting began, 10 terrified hostages were released out of the back door of the New York State immigration centre at 12.30pm.
They were draped in white sheets and clinged to each other, shaking from their ordeal in the small town of Binghamton.
New York governor David Paterson said 12 or 13 people were killed and called it a “tragic day for New York”.
He said: “I speak for all of New York when I offer my prayers for the victims and families of this tragedy.”
A memorial service is to be held at a nearby church for those traumatised by the killings.
Witnesses said Voong was dressed in a bright green nylon jacket and dark-rimmed glasses.
Local reports said that the FBI had called for a Vietnamese translator to speak to the gunman inside the building.
Binghamton mayor Matthew Ryan said the man parked his car at the back of the centre, walked inside with the rifle and began firing indiscriminately.
Ambulances rushed to the centre and were able to rescue some of the victims.
But four are known to have died after being rushed to local hospitals. One was a secretary who had been shot in the stomach.
Local reporters said dozens of other people received gunshot wounds.
Police marksmen and negotiators were on alert outside the building but did not dare try to enter while Voong was still on the loose and holding several dozen people hostage. Witnesses reported that after the gunman began shooting people, others inside the building scattered in terror.
Some hid in the basement, others crouched in cupboards hoping he would not spot them.
At the time that he burst into the centre, a group of immigrants were taking a citizenship exam that allows them to become American citizens.
Residents of local flats were evacuated. But in the first hours of the stand-off, the authorities did not risk bringing hundreds of pupils out of the school on to the streets.
They were kept in their building and away from the windows. The nursing home was also put on lockdown and police shut all the streets around the immigration centre.
As news of the shootings leaked out, families of those being held hostage rushed to the centre and waited anxiously behind police lines as a stand-off developed between marksmen and the gunman inside.
The centre is run by the American Civic Association, which works with immigrants and refugees who are being processed and settling in America. It runs counselling services, citizenship and language classes to help immigrants.
Binghamton is a town of around 47,000 people, 140 miles north-west of New York City.
It was unclear last night whether Voong had any connection to the centre or had experienced any trouble with his immigration process.
