Shootings and Hostage-Taking in Binghamton

***UPDATE***
From the Binghamton, N.Y. news, twelve people are dead after the shooting spree by a man of Vietnamese extraction, including the shooter:

A federal law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Associated Press the shooter has been found dead in the building. The shooter has identification saying he was 42-year-old Jiverly Voong.

The law enforcement official said the gunman entered the building through the front while firing. He had already blocked the back door with his car. According to scanner reports, 1993 Toyota at the scene was registered to Henry Voong of Johnson City.

[…]

The building is currently secure, although the dead remain within it, Zikuski said. He would not say where in the building the bodies were located.

Now the survivors are left to pick up the pieces...though no doubt the politicians are rushing to the scene to moralize.


This is a breaking news story: a shooting and hostage-taking has occurred (and may still be ongoing) at an immigration services center in Binghamton, New York.

There have been fatalities. One report says thirteen are dead, but that’s in The Daily Mail, which also refers to Binghamton as “a sleepy American town”, so it should be taken with a grain of salt for the time being.

I don’t know if this is a coincidence, but as I have reported previously, the national headquarters of the Muslims of America — the front organization for the terrorist group Jamaat ul-Fuqra — is in a rural area near Binghamton.

The MSM news articles all contain similar accounts, but Fox News includes a detail that the others seem to be leaving out:

Binghamton Mayor Matthew Ryan told the local Press & Sun Bulletin newspaper that the gunman had a high-powered rifle. The shooter was described by local media as an Asian male in a green jacket.

And the local Binghamton paper suggests that the shooter is Vietnamese.

We’ll have to wait for more information to be able to draw any conclusions. Details from the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin are below the jump:
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Shooting at American Civic Association
Some are released from building

At least four people were shot and dozens of others were being held hostage by a gunman at the American Civic Center in Binghamton.

At least five people have been taken to Wilson Regional Medical Center in Johnson City, one in critical condition, two listed as serious. Another person was taken to Lourdes Hospital in Johnson City.

Both hospitals postponed all elective surgeries and called in extra personnel to staff their emergency rooms.

According to police reports, more than 40 hostages were in the building — 15 in a closet and 26 in the boiler room. Sharp shooters from the Binghamton SWAT team were poised outside the building at 131 Front Street. The Endicott police bomb squad is also at the scene.

Scanner reports just before 1:30 p.m. indicate that police were asking 26 people in the Civic Association to lie on the floor with the hands above their heads.

Shortly after noon, about 10 people were released from the building, with hands on their heads. The police searched some of them. Around 12:40 p.m., another 10 were released from the rear of the building, clad in white sheets. They were shaken and hugged each other as they boarded a BC Transit bus. All are being considered suspects until they are cleared by police.

Police and ambulance crews began staging at Oak and Main Street, the site of the Binghamton High School, shortly after 10:30 a.m. today. Local apartments were evacuated and businesses, including a nearby nursing home, were placed under lockdown. The high school was also locked down.

One woman who worked as a secretary reportedly was shot in the stomach.

Family members of the hostages and victims were being told to gather at 232 Main St. in Binghamton, while more ambulance crews were on standby.

Binghamton Mayor Matthew Ryan said the shooter has a high-powered rifle.

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

Broome Community College Assistant Professor Tuong Hung Nguyen was asked to work with police to communicate with the shooter. Nguyen is fluent in Vietnamese.

Police shut down Main, North and Oak streets to respond to the incident, as well as Front Street at Gerard Avenue. The Memorial Bridge is also shut down, and police are taping off the corner of Front and North.

The American Civic Association helps immigrants and refugees with immigration and personal counseling, resettlement, citizenship, family reunification and translators. It also intervenes with emergencies, including fighting, hunger and homelessness, according to information from the association’s website.

The ACA had citizenship classes scheduled for today.

Redeemer Lutheran Church at 72 Main St. in Binghamton will hold a prayer vigil at 7 p.m. tonight for those affected by the shooting.

Hat tip: Tuan Jim.