Binghamton Gunman Wore Body Armor

Assailant Who Killed 13 Then Himself Was Reportedly Angry Over Job Loss, Poor English Skills

(CBS/AP)  The gunman who killed 13 people in a rampage at an immigrant community center and then committed suicide was wearing body armor, indicating he was prepared to battle with law enforcers, the Binghamton police chief said Saturday.

The gunman, 41-year-old Jiverly Wong, had been taking classes at the American Civic Association, which helps immigrants assimilate, until last month, Police Chief Joseph Zikuski said.

The body armor indicates that "at one point in his thinking process that he was going to take the police on or at least try to stop us from stopping him," Zikuski said.

"He must have been a coward," Zikuski said, speculating that he decided to turn the gun on himself when he heard sirens.

"He had a lot of ammunition on him, so thank God before more lives were lost, he decided to do that," Zikuski said.

The police chief said Wong was depressed after recently losing a job and angry that he couldn't speak English well.

"He recently lost a job, spoke very little or no English, and was angry because people looked down upon him," Zikuski told Early Show anchor Erica Hill. "That's all we have at this point. There's been no notes or anything like that to indicate what his motives may have been and we're hoping to get some more light shed on why he did something as horrible as this. But that's all we may end up with."

Wong had a permit for the two handguns he used, Zikuski said. Most of the victims had multiple gunshot wounds, he said.

Wong, who used the alias Jiverly Voong, believed people close to him were making fun of him for his poor English language skills, Zikuski said.

It was at least the sixth 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.

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.

Wong was ethnically Chinese but from Vietnam, a friend said Saturday. He was angry about recently losing a job, could not find work, and complained that his unemployment benefit checks were only $200 a week, said Hue Huynh, a Binghamton grocery store proprietor whose husband worked with Wong years ago.

Wong had driven a truck in California before recently returning to Binghamton, only to lose a job there, Huynh said.

"He's upset he don't have a job here. He come back and want to work," she said. Her husband tried to cheer him by telling him he was still young and there was plenty of time to find work, but he complained about his "bad luck," she said.


"It Was Just Panic"

Shortly before 1030 a.m. Friday, Wong used his vehicle to block the back door of the American Civic Association building, before walking in the front door.

Wong used two handguns to kill a receptionist and shoot two others at the front desk. He then moved to the corner of the building, killing 11 more.

"It's crazy, it's kind of scary," said eyewitness Robert Wise. "Like, you see this in movies. You don't expect this to happen in Binghamton."

Wong then opened fire on a room full of immigrants taking a citizenship class.

Terrified people, their only escape route blocked, scrambled into a boiler room and a storage room and prayed he wouldn't follow.

"I heard the shots, every shot. I heard no screams, just silence, shooting," said Zhanar Tokhtabayeva, a 30-year-old Kazakh who was in an English class when her teacher screamed for everyone to go to the storage room. "I heard shooting, very long time, and I was thinking, when will this stop? I was thinking that my life was finished."

Another receptionist, 61-year-old Shirley DeLucia, played dead after she was shot in the abdomen and called the emergency dispatcher to get police to the scene within two minutes.

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.

DeLucia was in critical condition at a hospital Saturday, along with another victim in the same condition and another in serious condition. A fourth victim was in stable condition at another hospital.

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, Zikuski said.

Police heard no gunfire after they arrived but 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 of the building in plastic handcuffs while they tried to sort out the victims from the killer or killers.

Most of the people brought out couldn't speak English, the chief said.

Alex Galkin, an immigrant from Uzbekistan, said he was taking English classes when he heard a shot and quickly went to the basement with about 20 other people.

"It was just panic," Galkin said.

Wong was found dead in an office 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.

Jack Levin, director of the Brudnick Center on Violence at Northeastern University and an expert on mass murderers, told The Early Show that Wong appeared to be on a suicidal rampage.

"He was going to take his life, but first he was going to get even," Levin said. "He was going to get sweet revenge against the other immigrants who had looked down upon him, among whom he had lost face. To him, that was an extremely important thing."

A woman who answered the phone at a listing for Henry D. Voong said she was Jiverly Voong's sister but would not give her name. She said her brother had been in the country for 28 years and had citizenship.

Friday evening investigators searched the home of the shooter, who lived only three-and-a-half miles away from the scene of his horrific crime.

"They are a very nice family, good family, educated family," said grocer Thanh Huynh. "You know, nice parents, nice sister, brother."

Accounts varied about the suspect's work history. Zikuski told NBC television's "Today" show that the shooter had worked in Binghamton for Shop-Vac, which closed in November. The sister told the AP on Friday that her brother worked at a company where "they make the vacuums."

Initial reports suggested Voong had recently been let go from IBM, which has roots in the region, but a person at IBM said there was no record of a Jiverly Voong ever working there. His father, Henry Voong, does work there as a contractor.

Huynh said her husband had worked with Voong years ago at IBM and that he had recently been let go from IBM again after returning from California.

The attack at the American Civic Association, which helps immigrants settle in this country, came just after 10 a.m. as people from all over the globe - Latin America, China, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Africa - gathered for English and citizenship lessons in an effort to become a bigger part of their new home.

Wong parked his car against the back door before barging through the front and opening fire, apparently without saying a word. He then entered a room just off the reception area and fired on a citizenship class while terrified people scrambled into a boiler room and a storage room.

Abdelhak Ettouri, a Moroccan immigrant who lives in nearby Johnson City, told the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin he found the back door locked when he tried to flee, then ran to hide in the basement as he heard 12 to 14 shots: "Tak-tak-tak-tak."

Hoi Nguyen of Binghamton said his 36-year-old daughter Phuong Nguyen, who survived the massacre, was taking an English class in the basement when the gunfire started.

"She said it sounded like a firecracker and everyone in the class was startled," he said. "Then the teacher locked the door, called the police, then told everyone they couldn't leave the room."

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 Binghamton region was the home to Endicott-Johnson shoe company and the birthplace of IBM, which between them employed tens of thousands of workers before the shoe company closed a decade ago and IBM downsized in recent years.

[brianbwb-2009]

I wonder if he had the "Interceptor" armor, as is currently and corruptly used by the US military, or the far superior "Dragon Skin" armor that US soldiers are forbidden to use, even if they buy it with their own money.

[mecanik-2009]

Aparently there is a hero in the Binghamton shoot out. The Receptionest. Who's heroic efforts of talking the police into the building by promising to protect them from the shooter. But her efforts were delayed for a time to finish their donut break.

She should get a Medal a badge and a gun. I think crime would come down in that town after she was hired as a police officer.

[nocatnowaco]

It is important to know that we have to make sure that PEOPLE WITH CRIMINAL BACKGROUNDS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO HAVE ANY FIREARMS. If somebody try to exploit this tragic event to eliminate the Rights of the people to have guns used both for hunting and personal protection is a wrong thing to consider; we just need some restrictions. We all know that more innocent people get killed in the car accidents everyday, so are we going close the freeways and pull the cars off the street to solve the problem?

[mecanik-2009]

There needs to be a Governors and citizens inquiry into there inaction and aparent cowardly approach to the scene. Who the heck was in charge there. It seems no one was. Just a bunch of shivering police waiting for the noise to stop before they went into the building. The nursing home shooting had two heros at the scene and this place had a bunch of Barney Fifes.

[zipadeedodah]

I wonder how many people would have survived the shooting if the police had secured the scene sooner. How many of them bled out while the police stood around waiting?

I can't BELIEVE that the police chief would dare call the shooter a "coward" - after such a cowardly performance by the police department. It's a good thing the shooter stopped himself when he did - before killing the rest of the people in the building - because the police sure weren't stopping him!

[erb0087]

If the only use a swimming pool had, the only purpose for it, was to drown people, then it would be called a drowning pool and it probably would be banned.

Guns enjoy 2nd Amendment protection, but they are really only for killing living things. They have no life-giving properties.

[Rebel_Rebel]

Knives, cars, swimming pools has uses besides killing.

Guns are just for taking life more efficiently than other means.
Posted by erb0087 at 12:19 PM

Thank goodness. I'm sure the burglar, rapist and the likes don't appreciate that, but I do.

[erb0087]

Knives, cars, swimming pools HAVE uses besides killing.

[erb0087]

OMG he had a knife! Hurry, lets ban all knives.
Posted by Samuel-HiLL at 8:35 AM : Apr 5, 2009
====================

Knives, cars, swimming pools has uses besides killing.

Guns are just for taking life more efficiently than other means.

[mecanik-2009]

"Perhaps it is time to revisit our gun laws. Why do we need automatic weapons. How can we continue to do nothing and let our citizens die."

This guy didn't have "automatic weapons" as it's commenly defined. At any rate are you referring to "Semi automatic" weapons. We bump straight into the 2nd amendment there and its not easy to create law that doesn't infringe on that right. It would take a Constitutional Vote to amend an amendment. Just as you would have to do if you reinstituted Slavery or took away your right to vote.

[aemt-cc2]

Never, ever is it ok to injure or kill others. No excuses...I have been a gun advocate for along time, but we have to stop this useless violence. Perhaps it is time to revisit our gun laws. Why do we need automatic weapons. How can we continue to do nothing and let our citizens die. We must as a nation act to stop this type of violence.

[tqtran]

I think we should have army or marines to protect us instead of using police force. Police officer should only be out there to stop people from driving over speed limited.

[Aldymac]

One of our freedoms is the freedom of expression, too many in our society believe it gives them the right to bully, to put people down, to make fun of those who may be different in language or dress or lifestyle. There are those in our society whom I don't care for as well, but as far as pushing their lifestyle off on others by means of law or just plain nasty personality, those, are the things that bring the evil out in people who would normally be decent.
Hatred, negative, more hatred, more negative, has been pushed on the American people over the last six years to bring about the results of the last election. I believe the results of all that hatred and isolation of people of all walks of life in this country, is now going to culminate in this nation becoming a more violent place to live.
The banning of guns will not stop that violence, the criminal element will still be armed, and like the soviet union, the criminal element will be used by the government to help control the people. Hitler did that and so did the Russians, what makes you think the present administration would do less?
B O has renieged on everything he said while running for office, turning this country into a socialist state will only bring more and deeper violence. How do I know the US will be turned into a socialist state? simple, the word democrat is a french word, translated into english it means "socialist".

[caligula1--2008]

D'oh! Wrong nutter . . . The disadvantage of tabbed browsing is sometimes you forget which page you're reading at the time, and the discussion threads are remarkably similar.

I was speaking of the person who ambushed the police . . . not the guy who shot up the immigrant support center.

[caligula1--2008]

So? He had body armor . . . so they're complaining he survived to be tried by a jury instead of getting blown to bits in a hail of automatic weapons fire?? At least he offered the police a stand up fight rather than shooting innocents or using a bomb. He felt that for him, it was time to recognize that the government had overstepped its bounds to a point where it as no longer reasonable to live under a society in which he believed freedom had been compromised to the point of deciding to water the tree of freedom. We all have that choice at some point in time, it's just that in my opinion our government hasn't quite crossed that line, or come anywhere near it, quite yet. Made mistakes, yes, but hasn't impinged on our freedoms yet to the point where national violent revolution is called for, much less targeting local police instead of the federal instruments of our misery when the local police who are just guys charged with enforcing the law, not making it, or in the case of the government, often, making it up.

Or he could have just been a nutter who at least had the decency to not go on a spree. Sounds like he knew and had enough that if he'd gone up against unarmed civilians instead of a large police tactical unit there would have been significantly more bodies on the ground.

Frankly, none of us has any way of telling which was which . . . . so why don't we wait for the trial so we can find out exactly just what motivated him.

[tqtran]

"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"

"He must have been a coward," Zikuski said
"He had a lot of ammunition on him, so thank God before more lives were lost, he decided to do that," Zikuski said.

After reading this article, seem to me the police just be there to clean up the mess after everthing is over. What does it means "To serve and protect"

[mecanik-2009]

"Police heard no gunfire after they arrived but waited for about an hour before entering the building to make sure it was safe for officers."


COWARDS ARE NOT SUPPOSE TO BE WEARING BADGES!!!!

[Samuel-HiLL]

OMG he had a knife! Hurry, lets ban all knives.

[rational_1]

The guy was 41 and had been in the country for 28 years, but spoke "very little or no English"? How did this guy finish middle and high school here?

[amazedd]

Terminator Padding
Duc Pharm Dung, IBM