2009 — April 3, Mass Killings, Immigration Services Center, Binghamton, NY[1] –13-14

— 13-14  New York Times. “13 Shot Dead During a Class on Citizenship,” April 3, 2009.

­­­­­­­­— 13-14  Wall Street Journal (Phillips). “Binghamton Shooting Victims Identified.” 4-5-2009.

 

Narrative Information

 

April 3, NYT: “A gunman invaded an immigration services center in downtown Binghamton, N.Y., during citizenship classes on Friday and shot 13 people to death and critically wounded 4 others before killing himself in a paroxysm of violence that turned a quiet civic setting into scenes of carnage and chaos.

 

“The killing began around 10:30 a.m. and was over in minutes, witnesses said, but the ordeal lasted up to three hours for those trapped inside the American Civic Association as heavily armed police officers, sheriff’s deputies and state troopers threw up a cordon of firepower outside and waited in a silence of uncertainty.

 

“Finally, officers who had not fired a shot closed in and found a sprawl of bodies in a classroom, 37 terrified survivors cowering in closets and a boiler room and, in an office, the dead gunman, identified as Jiverly Wong, 42, a Vietnamese immigrant who lived in nearby Johnson City.

 

“Two pistols and a satchel of ammunition were found with the body. In what the police took to be evidence of preparation and premeditation, the assailant had driven a borrowed car up against the center’s back door to barricade it against escape, then had walked in the rain around to the front to begin the attack….

 

“Armed with the two handguns and wearing a green jacket, the executioner came out of the rain through the glass front doors of the center, entering a reception area where he encountered two secretaries. He said nothing, but shot both. One slumped dead, but the other, Shirley DeLucca, pretended to be dead, and as the gunman walked on, she crawled to a desk and called 911.”  (New York Times.  “13 Shot Dead During a Class on Citizenship,” April 3, 2009.)

 

April 5, WSJ: “Police said the gunman who killed 13 people before taking his own life in an attack Friday on a Binghamton, N.Y., immigrants resources center had taken classes at the facility. Jiverly A. Wong, 41 years old, had been a student at the American Civic Association until early March, said Binghamton Police Chief Joe Zikuski.

 

“On Friday, Mr. Wong barricaded the community center’s back door with his car, walked in the front and started shooting with two handguns. A receptionist, 12 immigrants taking a citizenship class and the gunman were dead. A second receptionist who was shot in the abdomen but survived the attack, 61-year-old Shirley DeLucia, played dead and then called 911 to get police to the scene within minutes. Mr. Zikuski said the injured receptionist stayed on the phone for 90 minutes, “feeding us information constantly,” despite a serious wound in the abdomen. “She’s a hero in her own right,” he said….

 

“Thirty-seven others made it out, including 26 who hid for hours in a basement boiler room while police tried to determine whether the gunman was still alive and whether he was holding any hostages, Mr. Zikuski said.

 

“After shooting the two receptionists, Mr. Wong proceeded into a classroom where he shot all present. “Everyone who was in that classroom suffered a gunshot wound,” Mr. Zikuski said. Mr. Wong’s body was later found in the same room….

 

“Among the dead was the teacher of the class, Roberta King, a 72-year-old Binghamton resident who taught English at the Civic Association and worked as a substitute teacher in local schools, said her son, Jeffrey King, a physician who lives in Binghamton. Mr. Zikuski confirmed Ms. King’s death. Officials hope to have a full list of the dead available later today.

 

“While police are still trying to determine a motive for the attack, there is some indication that Mr. Wong, who also used the surname Voong, felt “people were making fun of him,” possibly because of his poor English skills, Mr. Zikuski said….

 

“Mr. Zikuski said Mr. Wong wore body armor during the attack, indicating he was prepared to battle with law enforcement, and had a permit for the two handguns he used. Most of the victims had multiple gunshot wounds, he said.

 

“Mr. Wong was ethnically Chinese but from Vietnam, a friend said on Saturday. He was angry about recently losing a job, couldn’t find work and complained that his unemployment checks were only $200 a week, said Hue Huynh, a Binghamton grocery store proprietor whose husband worked with Mr. Wong years ago. Mr. Wong had driven a truck in California before recently returning to Binghamton, only to lose a job there, Ms. Huynh said.

 

“Mr. Wong was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, a satchel containing ammunition slung around his neck, authorities said. Police found two handguns — a 9 mm and a .45-caliber — and a hunting knife….

 

“Police arrived in minutes, heard no gunfire and waited for about an hour before entering the building to make sure it was safe for officers. They then spent two hours searching the building. They led a number of men out in plastic handcuffs while trying to sort out victims from the killer or killers.

 

“The shootings took place in a neighborhood of homes and small businesses in downtown Binghamton, a city of about 47,000 situated 140 miles northwest of New York City….

 

“It was at least the fifth fatal mass shooting in the U.S. in the past month, and the nation’s deadliest since April 2007, when 32 people and a gunman died at Virginia Tech. A string of attacks in the U.S. in the last month left 44 people dead in all.

 

“A gunman killed 10 people and himself in Samson, Ala.; shootings that began with a traffic stop in Oakland, Calif., left four police officers and the gunman dead; an apparent murder-suicide in Santa Clara, Calif., left six dead; and a gunman went on a rampage at a nursing home Sunday, killing seven elderly residents and a nurse who cared for them.” (Wall Street Journal (Matt Phillips). “Binghamton Shooting Victims Identified.” 4-5-2009.)

 

Sources

 

New York Times. “13 Shot Dead During a Class on Citizenship,” April 3, 2009. Accessed at:  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/04/nyregion/04hostage.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

 

Wall Street Journal (Matt Phillips). “Binghamton Shooting Victims Identified.” 4-5-2009. Accessed 6-23-2015 at: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123884969179589719

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Shooter shoots and kills thirteen people and then shoots himself fatally.