The gunman, Jiverly Voong, 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.
Jiverly Voong is from nearby Johnson City and has an alternate name:
He allegedly walked into the center wearing a greenjacket and dark-rimmed glasses with a hunting knife tucked into the waistband of his pants.Voong had backed his car up to the back door of the building to block any escape before he went around to the front door and started to execute people.
NBC also reported the gunman may have been a Vietnamese immigrant named Jiverly Voong.
Jiverly Voong is believed to be 42: "Jiverly Voong, a 42 year old local man of Vietnamese origin."
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP) - A gunman opened fire at an immigration services center in downtown Binghamton on Friday, killing as many as 13 people before authorities found him dead, officials said.
Gov. David Paterson said at a news conference that 12 or 13 people had been killed.
A law enforcement official said the body of the man believed to be the gunman was found in an office of the American Civic Association building. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the details of an ongoing hostage situation and was talking on condition of anonymity.
