A LONE killer armed with two handguns and a hunting knife massacred 13 people at a citizenship centre in New York State before shooting himself.
The slayings took place on the main floor of the American Civic Association in Binghamton, 217 kilometres north-west of New York City yesterday.
The gunman, named by local media as Jiverly Voong, 42, a computer engineer of Vietnamese origin from nearby Johnson City, barricaded a car against the back door of the centre, where immigrants and refugees were taking US citizenship tests and language classes, to prevent escape.
He then entered the front of the building and opened fire on two receptionists before making his way to a classroom.
Dozens of people spent four hours cowering in the centre's basement, waiting to be told by police it was safe to leave.
Police chief Joseph Zikuski said there were "14 confirmed dead in the building. We removed safely 37 people. Four people we removed are wounded. All four are listed in critical condition."
An emergency call was made at 10.31am by the first woman hit by the gunman, a receptionist who was shot in the stomach and pretended she was dead until she could make her escape.
"A lone gunman entered the building and immediately shot her and another receptionist," Mr Zikuski said. "Unfortunately that [second] receptionist is now deceased. Then he went into another room and shot several more people."
Many of those in the centre were of Vietnamese origin.
Zhanar Tokhtabayeba, from Kazakhstan, who was taking an English class said: "I heard shootings, very long time, about five minutes, and I was thinking, 'When it will be stopped?' But it was continued. No screaming, yelling, just shooting, silence, shooting, silence."
The police chief said: "It is our understanding he had ties to the Civic Association." Police arrived at the centre in less than two minutes. "The gunfire had ceased by that time," Mr Zikuski said.
The gunman was found dead with a satchel containing ammunition slung around his neck, authorities said. Police found two handguns and a hunting knife.
The people who fled into the basement talked to police on mobile phones.
"We instructed them how to barricade the doors," Mr Zikuski said. "They were very angsty."
Police later raided Voong's home, removing items including computer hard drives and a rifle bag. CNN quoted a former colleague of Voong at a high-tech electronics company in New York, where he was an engineer.
He went by the name "Vaughn", which is what co-workers called him, she said.
"He was quiet - not a violent person," she said. "I can't believe he would do something like this."
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