Letter From NY Killer Forecast Slayings

Barrage from Wong's 2 handguns killed most of 13 victims instantly

(NEWSER) - Jiverly Wong unleashed 98 shots within a little more than a minute in his shooting spree last week at the American Civic Association in Binghamton, NY, police said today. The Vietnamese immigrant carried a 9mm Beretta and a .45-caliber handgun, and a bag of full ammunition clips. Nearly all of his 13 victims died immediately, the AP reports. More»

Victims couldn't have been saved, testy DA tells journos

(NEWSER) - Testy officials in upstate New York today defended police officers' 43-minute delay at the Binghamton shootings crime scene, the AP reports. The fatal wounds of 14 victims on Friday were so severe, "nobody could have been saved if the police walked in the door that first minute," Broome County DA Gerald Mollen said. Police arrived quickly after 911 calls from the immigrant services center, but waited outside. More»

(NEWSER) - Jiverly Wong’s parents are selling their upstate New York house and moving to Florida, fearing retaliation for their son’s community-center shooting spree, neighbors tell the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin. “He was very paranoid,” said one neighbor of Henry Voong, Jiverly Wong’s father. The house where Wong lived at the time of the April 3 rampage is listed on a realty site, but there’s no sign outside. More»

Poll shows support for handgun ban at its lowest level ever

(NEWSER) - The recent spate of mass shooting has done little to inspire gun control efforts despite the fact that almost all the shooters held licenses, the AP reports. Lawmakers—including Democrats—say there is no appetite for a divisive fight over guns when the country is in economic crisis. Recent efforts to change gun laws have tended to be about relaxing rather than tightening them. More»

Victim of civic center massacre hailed from 8 different countires

(NEWSER) - The immigrants gunned down in Binghamton on Friday were from all corners of the world, the New York Times reports; they came together in the classroom where they, along with the killer, had been studying English. Two Americans—a teacher and a receptionist—were killed in the rampage. Four of the other 11 victims came from China, two came from Haiti, and the others were from Brazil, Iraq, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Vietnam. More»