Binghamton killer mails letter to NY news channel before starting massacre

2009-04-07 13:25:12  

    NEW YORK, April 6 (Xinhua) --

Jiverly Wong, the Vietnamese immigrant who killed 13 people before taking his own life in Binghamton, upstate New York, on Friday, mailed a letter to a TV station the day of the massacre, local media reported Monday.

    Wong wrote in rambling English that the police had harassed him for 18 years, even spreading rumors about him and touching him in his sleep.

    "Many time from 1990 to 1997 at the day time cop would exploit unknown English and went to my house knock the door for harass," New York local TV channel NY1 quoted the letter.

    The letter was mailed, along with Wong's driver's license, his gun permit, and several photos of himself, to News 10 Now in Syracuse, the fifth largest city in New York State, hours before Wong walked into the American Civic Association and opened fire in one of the worst massacres in the state's history.

    The materials were released by the news channel Monday.

    The two-page handwritten letter begins: "I am Jiverly Wong shooting the people."

    The letter was dated March 18, more than two weeks before the shooting. It ends with him saying he can't "accept my poor life," that he is taking on the job of a judge and will "cut my poor life." He writes "at least two people with me go to return to the dust of the earth."

    Police speculated Wong was angry over losing a job and frustrated about his poor English skills.

    Associates say Wong was sensitive about his English language skills, says NY1.

    The shootings occurred at the American Civic Association, where Wong had taken English classes until the first week of March.

    Wong's family is "very sorry for all the victims and their families," his sister said in an interview on NBC's "Today" show Monday morning, according to the Associated Press.

Authorities confirm identities of 14 victims in Binghamton shooting

2009-04-06 02:38:02  

    BINGHAMTON, the United States, April 5 (Xinhua) --

A total of 14 people of eight different countries of origin, among them 4 Chinese nationals, were killed in Friday's deadly shooting rampage in downtown Binghamton, the U.S. state of New York, local authorities said on Sunday.

    According to a victims' namelist released here, the 14 came from Pakistan, the Philippines, Haiti, China, Vietnam, the United States, Brazil and Iraq, respectively.

    The four Chinese nationals were identified as Li Guo, 47, Hong Xiu Mao, 35, Hai Hong Zhong, 54, and Jiang Ling, 22.

    Other victims included two from Haiti, two from the United States, two from Vietnam including the shooter, and one each from Pakistan, the Philippines, Iraq and Brazil.

    Four people wounded in the attack were still in hospital but are all expected to survive, Police Chief Joseph Zikuski told a new conference on Sunday.

    Jiverly Wong, a naturalized U.S. citizen believed to be in his early 40s, has been identified as the killer who broke into the American Civic Association building on Friday morning and fired "numerous" shots with two handguns, police said.

U.S. Officials identify Binghamton shooter, indicate possible motives

2009-04-05 05:55:10  

    BINGHAMTON, the United States, April 4 (Xinhua) --

The shooter who killed 13 people before taking his own life in an immigrant services Centre in New York's Binghamton has been identified as a naturalized U.S. citizen of a Vietnamese descent, the authorities said Saturday.

    Jiverly Wong, who was believed to be in his early 40s and lived just outside the nearby Johnson city, was recently frustrated over a job loss and disrespect from people who laughed at his poor English skills, providing clues to the motive of the killings, they said.

    The shooter has lived here with his family for "quite a while," possibly over 20 years, and did a couple of different jobs, Mayor Matthew Ryan told Xinhua on Saturday at the Binghamton City Hall.

    The shooter's motive is still pending further investigation, but "we believe that had something to do with an angry person who lost the job, was frustrated about the fact that he couldn't speak English quite well and that maybe some people were disrespecting him for that," Ryan said.

    At a press conference held Saturday at City Hall, Police Chief Joseph Zikuski also said that people close to the gunman said that he was being "degraded" because of his inability to speak English well and he was upset about that.

    In a reference to press reports that a Pakistani Taliban militant leader had claimed responsibility for the massacre in Binghamton, Zikuski said that there was no indication that terrorism was behind it.

    "As far as we know, there is absolutely no indication whatsoever that there is any type of terrorist activity in any way involved in this," Zikuski told reporters.

    Wong arrived at the American Civic Association wearing body armor and might be prepared for a standoff with police, Zikuski said.

    "He must have been a coward, we speculate that when he heard the sirens he decided to end his own life," Zikuski said, noting that the gunman was armed with two hand guns and a lot of ammunition, and fired "numerous rounds."

    The officials also said that Wong was no stranger to the American Civic Association, where immigrants learn English and receive naturalization services.

    Until the first week of March, he had attended classes and then dropped out, they said.

    "The American Civic Association was founded in 1939 by immigrants who wanted to help those who have come after them in pursuit of the American dream," its President Angela Leach said in a statement read out at the press briefing.

    "We are a small volunteer-based organization that helps people who are working to become citizens and works to promote racial, religious and political harmony," she said.

    Ryan described the incident as a "tragedy" that affects "many different people from many different countries and their families and friends."

    The authorities are still in the process of identifying the victims, whose names might be released at the end of Saturday.

    Two of the four wounded people are still in critical condition but all of them are expected to survive, they said.

    Speaking of Binghamton's multi-ethnic culture, the mayor said he was proud of the immigration population in the city, which was founded by embracing immigrants who came from Europe as well as other places around the world.

    "Our high schools have 32 different languages that are spoken there. We teach Mandarian Chinese at high school and we are proud of the way we embrace immigrants who come to our country. This is a very welcoming place," Ryan told Xinhua.