Binghamton NY Shooting 2009, For more information and further developments, please see the main news article on this event in The Times.
Updated | 7:59 p.m. A law-enforcement official said that Mr. Wong had a New York State pistol license that listed two pistols, a 45-caliber Beretta and a 9-mm Beretta. The authorities matched the serial numbers of two guns found with the gunman’s body to the serial numbers on his license. The authorities were trying to trace the guns to determine where Mr. Wong obtained them and their history. http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com reported
Updated | 7:25 p.m. The New York Times has now identified the alleged shooter as Jiverly Wong, who used the alias Jiverly Voong, according to law-enforcement officials.
Updated | 7:05 p.m. There seems to be a mix-up about the alleged shooter, whose name police are still not releasing.
Representative Maurice Hinchey, whose district includes Binghamton, had told The New York Times and The Associated Press that the alleged shooter had been laid off from I.B.M. But a person familiar with the I.B.M. plant in Johnson City tells us that the alleged shooter did not work for I.B.M.
There is someone with the same last name as the alleged shooter who does contract work at the plant, the person said, but that worker was at the plant all day today and has not been laid off.
Updated | 6:30 p.m. The Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin says: “According to scanner reports, a 1993 Toyota at the scene was registered to Henry Voong of Johnson City.” Chief Zikuski said the perpetrator borrowed the car, apparently to attend a class at the Civic Association.
Updated | 6:02 p.m. We just had a short interview with Congressman Hinchey. We asked him about his earlier report that the gunman had been recently let go from I.B.M.
“That’s what I was told by several people, before and after I arrived here, but I don’t know if that’s the case,” he said. “I gave it great validity because it came from several sources, including law enforcement.”
But, he added, “Right now we know very little with absolute certainty, about who he was and what he was all about.”
Did the gunman randomly pick the civic center as the scene for the shooting or did he have a reason to be at that center?
“He went there purposefully and intentionally,” Mr. Hinchey said. Indications are that the gunman was an immigrant, from Vietnam, Mr. Hinchey said, adding that the car driven by the gunman was actually registered to his father.
“I can’t believe that this wonderful, beautiful little city would have this kind of experience,” he said. “It’s just amazing.”
Updated | 5:34 p.m. A crime expert on CNN is saying that the pattern of incidents like this suggests that the shooter probably did several things in preparation for, and leading up to, the shooting. But we don’t know anything about what the shooter in this case may have done prior to arriving at the center.
Updated | 5:28 p.m. Most of the people who survived could not speak English, Chief Zikuski said.
The shooting “was obviously premeditated,” Chief Zikuski said, because the shooter barricaded the door to make sure nobody could escape. He also declined to elaborate more on the shooter, saying, “We don’t want to alarm the citizens of the community.”
Updated | 5:26 p.m. One reason for the early estimates of a much higher death toll was that the original caller told police that about 100 people were in the building, and she heard several shots. But the chief says there were more like 50 people in the building.
Updated | 5:25 p.m. Police don’t know how many shots were fired. There is no indication that any rifle was used, Chief Zikuski said.
He is not releasing the name of the person believed to be the shooter.
Updated | 5:20 p.m. There are 14 people confirmed dead. Chief Zikuski said he was “not 100 percent sure” that the shooter was among the dead, but he thinks so.
“We have no idea what the motive is,” Chief Zikuski said.
Police removed 37 survivors from the building, and 4 of them are in critical condition.
Police recovered two handguns from the scene.
Updated | 5:18 p.m. Binghamton Police Chief Joseph Zikuski said that a woman called 911 at 10:31 to say she had been shot. Police responded in two minutes. Gunfire had ceased by then. The suspect put a car against the back door of the center, barring anyone from leaving. He went through the front door. It took the SWAT team several hours to clear the place. Once that was done, the original caller said a lone gunman had come in, shot her and another receptionist, who was killed. The shooter then went to another room and shot several more people.
Updated | 5:17 p.m. Mayor Ryan is saying this investigation will be “a fairly lengthy process.” He says that the two men of Asian descent who were taken away earlier in handcuffs (they were actually flex cuffs) are not considered suspects.
Gov. Paterson expressed his “profound outrage at a senseless act of violence in which innocent people were killed and probably traumatized.”
The governor also cautioned that there was a lot of bad information floating around. “There have been a variety of erroneous reports that only exacerbates an already-tension-filled situation,” he said.
Despite the fact that many of the victims were immigrants, he said, “There still is an American dream.”
Updated | 5 p.m. The gunman was let go recently from a job at I.B.M. in nearby Johnson City, Representative Maurice Hinchey, the Democratic Congressman whose district includes Binghamton, told The A.P. Mr. Hinchey spoke after a flight from Albany to Binghamton, where he has arrived with Gov. Paterson for the news conference.
Updated | 4:43 p.m. The news conference has been moved back to 5 p.m.
Updated | 4:03 p.m. The Associated Press has identified the shooter as Jiverly Voong, according to the identification on his body. He was 42.
Updated | 3:56 p.m. In Washington, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., announced the shootings to an audience, saying that they took place while immigrants were taking a citizenship examination. “We’ve got to figure a way to deal with this senseless, senseless violence,” Mr. Biden said.
Updated | 3:35 p.m. Bare details are beginning to emerge about the gunman. CNN reports that police say he was 42 years old and lived in upstate New York. That’s all we know at this point — no hint of a motive.
A law enforcement expert tells CNN that as a matter of procedure, police and weapons experts at this point are probably carefully combing the inside of the building and may be looking for a second gunman or accomplice.
Updated | 3:23 p.m. CNN reports that there are 13 dead — 12 hostages plus the gunman, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The network adds that 5 others are in local hospitals.
Updated | 3:06 p.m. Fox News reports it is now “100 percent sure” that there was a lone gunman and he killed himself.
Updated | 2:56 p.m. The reports about a lone gunman having killed himself are coming from news organizations that have been monitoring local police scanners. The police themselves have not confirmed those reports.
Updated | 2:45 p.m. Gov. Paterson, who was preparing for a news conference on another topic, is now telling reporters that 12 or 13 people are dead. WBNG in Binghamton says the gunman is dead, which may explain the count of 13.
Updated | 2:42 p.m. Police vehicles are starting to leave the scene, indicating that the emergency continues to ebb. Ambulances are still in front of the building. Local hospitals are calling in extra personnel.
Updated | 2:35 p.m. The mayor’s news conference has been pushed back to 4:30 p.m. from 4 p.m.; Gov. Paterson wants to be on hand and is making his way there now.
Updated | 2:26 p.m. ABC News is reporting that one of the gunmen killed himself.
Updated | 2:11 p.m. MSNBC reports that “several” weapons have been recovered from the scene.
Updated | 2:10 p.m. A statement from Gov. David Paterson of New York confirmed there were fatalities, but did not say how many.
Updated | 2:02 p.m. Police now tell local TV that at least 12 people have been killed. Medics are going into the building now. The Times has not confirmed that number.
Updated | 2 p.m. Police are looking for someone who speaks Vietnamese to help them with translation. It is not clear if the suspects or the hostages are Vietnamese, but the language barrier appears to be delaying the investigation and the release of information.
Updated | 1:58 p.m. Local news from Channel 10
Updated | 1:56 p.m. A local witness is telling Fox News that a local police officer told her that 13 are dead.
Updated | 1:53 p.m. The A.P. is still saying that 4 people are dead.
Updated | 1:52 p.m. Mayor Ryan is planning a news conference at 4 P.M. ABC News reports that 13 people were killed. The New York Times has not confirmed that number.
Updated | 1:45 p.m.
A cheer has gone up among the crowd outside the building, suggesting the hostage stand-off may be coming to an end.
Updated | 1:43 p.m. It appears that the hostages have been freed, and you can see family members running toward the building.
Updated | 1:42 p.m. A local TV reporter is talking to two witnesses who say that two Asian men were taken out of the building, both handcuffed.
Updated | 1:40 p.m. The shooter apparently backed his car up to the back of the building, either to block others from coming in or to prevent others from getting out.
Updated | 1:30 p.m. The American Civic Association, the scene of the crime, is a place that provides services for immigrants and helps them learn English.
Updated | 1:28 p.m. Mayor Matthew Ryan of Binghamton says that the shooter has a high-powered rifle.
Updated | 1:25 p.m. Danny Coulson, a former FBI deputy assistant director, is telling Fox News that, based on previous incidents, the shooter probably felt an initial adrenalin rush after he started shooting and now may be preparing to kill himself.
Updated | 1:23 p.m. The number of people shot is unclear at this point. Local reports are varying and police have not put out a solid number. Same with the number of hostages.
Updated | 1:22 p.m. The police are inside the building now and are preparing to go from room to room to find the shooter.
Updated | 1:20 p.m.
CNN is conducting an interview with a former SWAT team commander in New Orleans, Howard Robertson, who said this is a crucial period in how this event will unfold. He said the shooter is likely to kill himself and he is probably calculating now whether to take out some hostages with him when he goes.
If he starts shooting, Mr. Robertson said, you have to “go in and end this situation.” As long as he’s not shooting, he said, the police can try to negotiate and prepare for a “sudden entry.” Police are practicing now to go in.
Mr. Robertson said the shooter’s car had been found and police are most likely looking for his home address.
It is not clear if the shooter has a bomb.
Updated | 1:05 p.m. It is not clear where the shooter is, but dozens of police officers have surrounded the building. They’ve told people in nearby buildings to stay inside.
Original Post | 1 p.m. There’s a major shooting and hostage situation developing at a building in Binghamton, N.Y.
Early reports say the shootings took place at the American Civic Association and that at least 20 people have been taken hostage.
Local apartments are being evacuated.
Updated | 7:59 p.m. A law-enforcement official said that Mr. Wong had a New York State pistol license that listed two pistols, a 45-caliber Beretta and a 9-mm Beretta. The authorities matched the serial numbers of two guns found with the gunman’s body to the serial numbers on his license. The authorities were trying to trace the guns to determine where Mr. Wong obtained them and their history. http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com reported
Updated | 7:25 p.m. The New York Times has now identified the alleged shooter as Jiverly Wong, who used the alias Jiverly Voong, according to law-enforcement officials.
Updated | 7:05 p.m. There seems to be a mix-up about the alleged shooter, whose name police are still not releasing.
Representative Maurice Hinchey, whose district includes Binghamton, had told The New York Times and The Associated Press that the alleged shooter had been laid off from I.B.M. But a person familiar with the I.B.M. plant in Johnson City tells us that the alleged shooter did not work for I.B.M.
There is someone with the same last name as the alleged shooter who does contract work at the plant, the person said, but that worker was at the plant all day today and has not been laid off.
Updated | 6:30 p.m. The Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin says: “According to scanner reports, a 1993 Toyota at the scene was registered to Henry Voong of Johnson City.” Chief Zikuski said the perpetrator borrowed the car, apparently to attend a class at the Civic Association.
Updated | 6:02 p.m. We just had a short interview with Congressman Hinchey. We asked him about his earlier report that the gunman had been recently let go from I.B.M.
“That’s what I was told by several people, before and after I arrived here, but I don’t know if that’s the case,” he said. “I gave it great validity because it came from several sources, including law enforcement.”
But, he added, “Right now we know very little with absolute certainty, about who he was and what he was all about.”
Did the gunman randomly pick the civic center as the scene for the shooting or did he have a reason to be at that center?
“He went there purposefully and intentionally,” Mr. Hinchey said. Indications are that the gunman was an immigrant, from Vietnam, Mr. Hinchey said, adding that the car driven by the gunman was actually registered to his father.
“I can’t believe that this wonderful, beautiful little city would have this kind of experience,” he said. “It’s just amazing.”
Updated | 5:34 p.m. A crime expert on CNN is saying that the pattern of incidents like this suggests that the shooter probably did several things in preparation for, and leading up to, the shooting. But we don’t know anything about what the shooter in this case may have done prior to arriving at the center.
Updated | 5:28 p.m. Most of the people who survived could not speak English, Chief Zikuski said.
The shooting “was obviously premeditated,” Chief Zikuski said, because the shooter barricaded the door to make sure nobody could escape. He also declined to elaborate more on the shooter, saying, “We don’t want to alarm the citizens of the community.”
Updated | 5:26 p.m. One reason for the early estimates of a much higher death toll was that the original caller told police that about 100 people were in the building, and she heard several shots. But the chief says there were more like 50 people in the building.
Updated | 5:25 p.m. Police don’t know how many shots were fired. There is no indication that any rifle was used, Chief Zikuski said.
He is not releasing the name of the person believed to be the shooter.
Updated | 5:20 p.m. There are 14 people confirmed dead. Chief Zikuski said he was “not 100 percent sure” that the shooter was among the dead, but he thinks so.
“We have no idea what the motive is,” Chief Zikuski said.
Police removed 37 survivors from the building, and 4 of them are in critical condition.
Police recovered two handguns from the scene.
Updated | 5:18 p.m. Binghamton Police Chief Joseph Zikuski said that a woman called 911 at 10:31 to say she had been shot. Police responded in two minutes. Gunfire had ceased by then. The suspect put a car against the back door of the center, barring anyone from leaving. He went through the front door. It took the SWAT team several hours to clear the place. Once that was done, the original caller said a lone gunman had come in, shot her and another receptionist, who was killed. The shooter then went to another room and shot several more people.
Updated | 5:17 p.m. Mayor Ryan is saying this investigation will be “a fairly lengthy process.” He says that the two men of Asian descent who were taken away earlier in handcuffs (they were actually flex cuffs) are not considered suspects.
Gov. Paterson expressed his “profound outrage at a senseless act of violence in which innocent people were killed and probably traumatized.”
The governor also cautioned that there was a lot of bad information floating around. “There have been a variety of erroneous reports that only exacerbates an already-tension-filled situation,” he said.
Despite the fact that many of the victims were immigrants, he said, “There still is an American dream.”
Updated | 5 p.m. The gunman was let go recently from a job at I.B.M. in nearby Johnson City, Representative Maurice Hinchey, the Democratic Congressman whose district includes Binghamton, told The A.P. Mr. Hinchey spoke after a flight from Albany to Binghamton, where he has arrived with Gov. Paterson for the news conference.
Updated | 4:43 p.m. The news conference has been moved back to 5 p.m.
Updated | 4:03 p.m. The Associated Press has identified the shooter as Jiverly Voong, according to the identification on his body. He was 42.
Updated | 3:56 p.m. In Washington, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., announced the shootings to an audience, saying that they took place while immigrants were taking a citizenship examination. “We’ve got to figure a way to deal with this senseless, senseless violence,” Mr. Biden said.
Updated | 3:35 p.m. Bare details are beginning to emerge about the gunman. CNN reports that police say he was 42 years old and lived in upstate New York. That’s all we know at this point — no hint of a motive.
A law enforcement expert tells CNN that as a matter of procedure, police and weapons experts at this point are probably carefully combing the inside of the building and may be looking for a second gunman or accomplice.
Updated | 3:23 p.m. CNN reports that there are 13 dead — 12 hostages plus the gunman, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The network adds that 5 others are in local hospitals.
Updated | 3:06 p.m. Fox News reports it is now “100 percent sure” that there was a lone gunman and he killed himself.
Updated | 2:56 p.m. The reports about a lone gunman having killed himself are coming from news organizations that have been monitoring local police scanners. The police themselves have not confirmed those reports.
Updated | 2:45 p.m. Gov. Paterson, who was preparing for a news conference on another topic, is now telling reporters that 12 or 13 people are dead. WBNG in Binghamton says the gunman is dead, which may explain the count of 13.
Updated | 2:42 p.m. Police vehicles are starting to leave the scene, indicating that the emergency continues to ebb. Ambulances are still in front of the building. Local hospitals are calling in extra personnel.
Updated | 2:35 p.m. The mayor’s news conference has been pushed back to 4:30 p.m. from 4 p.m.; Gov. Paterson wants to be on hand and is making his way there now.
Updated | 2:26 p.m. ABC News is reporting that one of the gunmen killed himself.
Updated | 2:11 p.m. MSNBC reports that “several” weapons have been recovered from the scene.
Updated | 2:10 p.m. A statement from Gov. David Paterson of New York confirmed there were fatalities, but did not say how many.
Updated | 2:02 p.m. Police now tell local TV that at least 12 people have been killed. Medics are going into the building now. The Times has not confirmed that number.
Updated | 2 p.m. Police are looking for someone who speaks Vietnamese to help them with translation. It is not clear if the suspects or the hostages are Vietnamese, but the language barrier appears to be delaying the investigation and the release of information.
Updated | 1:58 p.m. Local news from Channel 10
Updated | 1:56 p.m. A local witness is telling Fox News that a local police officer told her that 13 are dead.
Updated | 1:53 p.m. The A.P. is still saying that 4 people are dead.
Updated | 1:52 p.m. Mayor Ryan is planning a news conference at 4 P.M. ABC News reports that 13 people were killed. The New York Times has not confirmed that number.
Updated | 1:45 p.m.
A cheer has gone up among the crowd outside the building, suggesting the hostage stand-off may be coming to an end.
Updated | 1:43 p.m. It appears that the hostages have been freed, and you can see family members running toward the building.
Updated | 1:42 p.m. A local TV reporter is talking to two witnesses who say that two Asian men were taken out of the building, both handcuffed.
Updated | 1:40 p.m. The shooter apparently backed his car up to the back of the building, either to block others from coming in or to prevent others from getting out.
Updated | 1:30 p.m. The American Civic Association, the scene of the crime, is a place that provides services for immigrants and helps them learn English.
Updated | 1:28 p.m. Mayor Matthew Ryan of Binghamton says that the shooter has a high-powered rifle.
Updated | 1:25 p.m. Danny Coulson, a former FBI deputy assistant director, is telling Fox News that, based on previous incidents, the shooter probably felt an initial adrenalin rush after he started shooting and now may be preparing to kill himself.
Updated | 1:23 p.m. The number of people shot is unclear at this point. Local reports are varying and police have not put out a solid number. Same with the number of hostages.
Updated | 1:22 p.m. The police are inside the building now and are preparing to go from room to room to find the shooter.
Updated | 1:20 p.m.
CNN is conducting an interview with a former SWAT team commander in New Orleans, Howard Robertson, who said this is a crucial period in how this event will unfold. He said the shooter is likely to kill himself and he is probably calculating now whether to take out some hostages with him when he goes.
If he starts shooting, Mr. Robertson said, you have to “go in and end this situation.” As long as he’s not shooting, he said, the police can try to negotiate and prepare for a “sudden entry.” Police are practicing now to go in.
Mr. Robertson said the shooter’s car had been found and police are most likely looking for his home address.
It is not clear if the shooter has a bomb.
Updated | 1:05 p.m. It is not clear where the shooter is, but dozens of police officers have surrounded the building. They’ve told people in nearby buildings to stay inside.
Original Post | 1 p.m. There’s a major shooting and hostage situation developing at a building in Binghamton, N.Y.
Early reports say the shootings took place at the American Civic Association and that at least 20 people have been taken hostage.
Local apartments are being evacuated.
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