N.Y. gunman fired 98 shots during minute-long rampage

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — The man who gunned down 13 people at an upstate New York immigration center fired 98 shots from two handguns in a little more than a minute, police said today.

Ballistics reports showed Jiverly Wong fired 87 times from a 9mm Beretta and 11 times from a .45-caliber handgun.

Police said almost all 13 victims died instantly. Four others were wounded but survived. Wong killed himself as police were rushing to the scene. He was found with a satchel containing several full ammunition clips.

Police have speculated that Wong, who was ethnically Chinese but was from Vietnam, was angry over losing a job and frustrated about his poor English-language skills.

“I asked our range officer and he said easily in a minute you could rip off 98 rounds,” said Police Chief Joseph Zikuski. “Our range people tell us it was over in a minute, a minute and a half. It doesn’t take long. Especially, it’s our understanding that he was an accomplished marksman.”

Wong, wearing a bulletproof vest, barged into the American Civic Association community center Friday morning and started shooting. Two employees and 11 immigrants taking an English class died in the assault.

Meanwhile, WBNG-TV in Binghamton has obtained recordings of some of the communications between dispatchers and police on the scene.

At one point, officers on the scene were told about the vehicle Wong used to block a door at the rear of the building.

“Be advised guys, you may have somebody come out the back door, so keep alert,” says a man’s voice.

“This door’s barricaded with the, uh, suspect’s vehicle,” is the answer from the scene.

“Use cover, don’t … don’t do anything foolish back there,” the first voice replies.

The rampage left the small classroom at the American Civic Association in ruins, Zikuski said. Desks were found flipped over and bullet holes riddled the space, he said.

“It was very tight close quarters. The room was in mayhem. There was not a lot of moving around the room. We do know he began firing as soon as he got to the doorway because there’s casings right at the doorway,” Zikuski said.

Police found full magazine clips on the ground inside the center, suggesting Wong had dropped them while reloading. Police found an empty clip that had the capacity for 30 bullets. A laser sight also was found at the scene.

Zikuski said it was not known if any of the students tried to fight back. Their desks faced away from the door Wong used to enter the classroom full of immigrants learning English.

“We will never know that,” he said. “There was no indication … it happened so quickly, they had little time to react. He walked in there shooting. Nobody really had any time.”

Police have said Wong had been practicing shooting at a local firing range in recent weeks.

Wong had a New York state pistol permit, first obtained in 1997, with the two handguns used in the shooting registered to it.

In the recordings obtained by WBNG, a male voice says early reports are the gunman is dead. Zikuski said the recordings were authentic — he’s on them at several points — but that someone recorded police radio transmissions and the recordings were not released by the county.

“If you have any contact with people in that building, they think the assailant may have did himself,” the man says on the recording.

“So if you talk to anybody, tell them to stay put until the police come and get ‘em.”

A female voice is later heard saying, “That’s affirmative, two victims, female, gunshot wound to the abdomen under a desk on the first floor and a subject laying on the ground in front of the reception area, unknown male or female, unknown life status.”

The first calls to 911 came at 10:30 a.m. Police arriving on the scene at 10:33 a.m. did not hear any shots.