Binghamton in shock as police investigate mass murder

by Robert A. Baker / The Post-Standard

Friday April 03, 2009, 10:35 PM

BINGHAMTON, NY -- Four hours after a desperate call to 911 telling of a gunman shooting people inside Binghamton's American Civic Association building, the city's police chief gave an impromptu press conference a half a block away.

"The building is clear," Chief Joseph Zikuski said a little after 2:30 p.m.

The only people remaining inside the building, he said, were deceased. Fourteen people never left the building used to educate immigrants to become citizens. The shooter was most likely one of those dead, he said.

"The most tragic day in Binghamton history" is how Mayor Matthew T. Ryan called the day.

Blocks of the city were closed and under police guard. Binghamton High School, about a block away from the shooting scene on Front Street, was locked down for most of the school day.

It began just before 10:30 a.m. when a man drove to the American Civic Association in a borrowed car, Zikuski said. The gunman parked the car against the back door so no one could leave and then walked around the building and entered through the front door.

The gunman shot two receptionists, Zikuski said. One died, the other fell to the floor and feigned death.

"He just came in and shot her," Zikuski said. "He didn't say anything."

The gunman walked into a room on the first floor and shot 12 more people as the receptionist called 911 from her desk.

Police believe the gunman then shot himself, Zikuski said. Police found 13 dead in the room off the reception area. One of the dead had a satchel of ammunition around his neck, Zikuski said.

The suspected gunman carried identification with the name of 42-year-old Jiverly Voong (VUNG), The Associated Press reported.

Two handguns have been recovered. Four people were wounded, including the receptionist who made the call, and all are in critical condition, Zikuski said.

Police have talked to the owner of the car the suspect borrowed and parked against the door and believe the lone gunman is dead, but are awaiting identification of the dead before announcing the suspect's name, Zikuski said.

The suspect was no stranger to the civic association, Zikuski said.

During the shooting, 26 people took refuge in the boiler room of the civic association, Zikuski said. The people had heard the shots and communicated with police by cell phones, trading for new phones when batteries died. Police gave instruction on how to barricade the door.

They stayed in the basement "upward of three hours," Zikuski said.

The building was secured at 2:33 p.m., almost four hours to the minute of the first 911 call.
Just under 60 people were inside when the gunman began shooting.

Gloria Wright / The Post-StandardCrowds gather on the scene of a hostage situation on Front Street in Binghamton. Police a gunman opened fire on a citizenship class at the American Civic Association.

"It was obviously premeditated," Zikuski said. "He put the car against the back door so no one could escape."

As the drama unfolded, people flocked to police barricades at the corner of First and Main streets, just a half a block away. The media set up in front of the Congregational church on the corner.

One man stood near a bar looking at the scene down the street through binoculars.
"It's sad," he said. He wouldn't give his name.

"I don't feel like making a story when people from my town have been assassinated. No thank you," he said.

On Main Street, the owners of Barnes Flowers had a close-up view to the unfolding hostage situation. They heard the sirens and after a while looked out.

"The whole place was inundated with police and fire trucks," owner Linda Kerensky said.

Kerensky and her husband could see SWAT team members on top of a garage behind the civic association with their weapons leveled at the association building.

They watched as the hostages were freed and then led through a parking lot and into a waiting bus. They had sheets over their heads, Kerensky said.

"I think they were very quiet," she said. "One of the people was taken away in an ambulance."

Tony Kerensky, Linda's husband, saw three people come out in handcuffs. They looked Asian, he said, and were put into police cars and driven away quickly.

Gloria Wright / The Post-StandardThe American Civic Association building on Front Street in Binghamton. Click image to enlarge.

Several people were led out of the building in flex cuffs, but none were the shooter Zikuski said. It's standard police procedure to secure anyone who fits the description of the suspect until they are determined not to be, he said.

In Binghamton High School, the police were stationed outside and teachers were at the doors to make sure students didn't leave.

"We were locked down in our classrooms from 10:30 until now," said 10th-grader Stephanie Reistetter just before 4 p.m.

Teachers escorted students to the bathrooms and students were sent to the cafeteria by class for lunch, she said. They were updated every half hour, Reistetter said, but the updates weren't very informative.

"We were allowed to send e-mails and text messages but after a while they stopped us. It was slowing everything down," she said.

A fire official confirmed that they asked people to stop using cell phones because it was interfering with police cell phone communications.

Shanon Nasoni, of Endicott, works across the street from the civic association and waited at the police line to see if she could get the things she left behind when police evacuated their building.

"We're concerned. We know people who work in the civic association," Nasoni said.

One in particular did handyman jobs at Ferre Institute, the non-profit where Nasoni works.

"We're quite concerned about what happened to him," Nasoni said.

It was clear that the police investigation was going to take a long time when a truck delivered three portable toilets to the scene sometime after 3 p.m.

People in Binghamton were visibly upset. One emotional woman called out from her car to a reporter: "People are crazy."

The police chief and the mayor both assured the residents that they are safe, that they believe the shooter is dead.

Gov. David Paterson spoke at a 5 p.m. press conference at the Binghamton City Hall, telling the press he received a call from Vice President Joe Biden expressing his and the president's concerns and offering the city whatever federal aid is needed.

As night began to fall on Binghamton, Main Street was lined with television station vans from across New York and Pennsylvania. The bridge near Front Street was lined with big dishes pointed skyward and the corner of Front and Main streets was lit by the lights of dozens of cameras.