Binghamton Shooting | 04/03/2009 2:20 pm

Binghamton Shooter Held 41 Hostage at Civic Center, At Least 12 Dead

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

Image via Google

As the fogs continue to engulf New York, the upstate town of Binghamton endured one of its darkest days.

A lone gunman went on a killing rampage today after holding innocent victims hostage in a local civic center. Forty-one hostages were reportedly inside the American Civic Center, and ten hostages were released from the building shortly after noon, reports the New York Daily News. At least 12 people are dead at the hands of a lone gunman. NY1 reports that SWAT teams and the FBI are on the scene.

New York Gov. Paterson released the following statement:

This is a tragic day for New York. While the situation is still developing and details are being gathered, we do know that a gunman entered the American Civic Association in Binghamton this morning and that there are fatalities. We are monitoring the situation and I have directed the State Police to assist the Binghamton Police Department in any way they can. I speak for all of New York when I offer my prayers for the victims and families of this tragedy.

We will share with you more updates as they come.

Read more about: Binghamton, Death, Hostage, Killing, Murder, New York, News, Tragedy

86 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Guns are so easy to acquire in this country. How many times has this happened this year?

So sad….

By Diana T on 04/03/2009 2:34 pm

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It’s about time all guns were banned across the board…the 2ND amendment is there and is being used as an excuse to buy/own a gun because we can. I have never believed in being allowed to buy guns as easy as buying candy, it makes no sense to me…is life that worthless? I know all about the 2ND amendment but that to me is out dated and antiquated and needs to be thrown out…we are not living in the Wild West anymore where Cowboy and Indians roam the plains. That is one amendment I would dearly love to see the back of…not popular I know and certainly won’t happen but I would back that reversal in a heartbeat.

By caj p on 04/03/2009 2:52 pm

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caj p —- Since I own a handgun - have all the necessary papers to do so - I carry it as a precaution. Suppose I had been in that Civic Center and had the opportunity to pull out my gun and blow away this disturbed person? Maybe at least 14 of the 15 people would have lived. I will repeat something I heard a long time ago….."Guns don’t kill people - people kill people".

I think of a young woman we knew who was a student at West Virginia U. when the gunman there went on a rampage - if just one or two students had been armed then possibly she would be living today.

There are many sides to this issue!

By Lady Gator on 04/03/2009 3:17 pm

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I know all the other arguments to this, everyone has a right to their opinion..I personally don’t like guns and would never own a gun. The theory of guns don’t kill people …people kill people is an easy cop out in my mind because it takes a person to be HOLDING A GUN in the first place to kill a person!!!

By caj p on 04/03/2009 3:50 pm

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cap j —-Yes, and when I’m holding that gun in my hand I don’t have to kill someone - but, I guarantee, from personal experience, it will make someone think twice before they decide to harm me or anyone else with me. A friend of mine was raped and killed in an upscale mall in south Florida, her three yr old was with her. After he raped my friend he also killed her little girl. I didn’t like guns either, but I learned to use one and now, I carry one. I never leave a mall at dark that I don’t have my hand on my weapon.

Might be a "cop out" to you", however, I can guarantee you, I will fight for my life with my weapon at the ready! In order to defend myself, I WILL be the person HOLDING A GUN. And, if necessary I can either kill someone who tries to attack me or scare the hell out of them!

By Lady Gator on 04/04/2009 8:11 pm

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I’m so sorry to hear about what happened to your friend and her daughter that is terrible. I understand how you feel as you believe in the right to bare arms and I just don’t it’s as simple as that. Not everything can be solved by the use of a gun, it is however made easier because we can get guns so easily, far too easy as far as I’m concerned and that is something that needs to be changed. I personally would have all guns banned so no one even had the chance to buy them on mass a some folks do and keep them around the home or in glove compartments…all to easy to use for other purposes than protection. It only takes a second to pull a gun on someone during an argument could even be a friend or family member in some remote cases and when that trigger is pulled it’s all too late. So for me guns are too easy to have access to and far too plentiful and do not keep society safer, it just makes for more and more instances like we’ve seen in the past couple of days. I whole heartedly believe in a total gun ban even though I know that unfortunately will never happen…we are the worst country in the world for gun crime and deaths. When these sad things happen we always say the same thing everything time "how sad or how could that happen", well it happens and will continue to do so until something is seriously done about it.

By caj p on 04/04/2009 10:26 pm

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Suppose you had been there with your gun and there was a shoot out and 25 people ended up dead? There is no way to know THAT wouldn’t be the case. The more guns involved the more dead people.

By DeBúrca obj on 04/03/2009 8:55 pm

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Deburca — Why did I know that would be your answer! Of course, President Obama wants to take away all guns. Think about this for a moment — if you are lying there on the floor and some crazy is waving a gun around and killing people, are you going to say, "Gee I sure am glad we have gun control, I sure am glad noone has a gun on them. Just let the crazy guy shoot up the place, however, I’m going to wait here for an hour until the police get here. I’ll just let him kill as many people as he wants to."

Good for you ——-the more guns involved the fewer dead people in this case.

By Lady Gator on 04/04/2009 8:17 pm

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If you people can’t do it with facts you make stuff up. President Obama not only never said he was going to take your guns away, he specifically said he was not. The the far Right in it’s fear campaign keeps saying otherwise, because it’s not about truth it’s about spin.

Sane gun control laws will not take your precious guns away, don’t worry.

By DeBúrca obj on 04/04/2009 10:11 pm

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Thank you Deburca — I know if you say it —then it must be true! I appreciate your response.

I know what he said — let’s see if this campaign promise lasts. Seems there are others that haven’t. And, the issue of owning guns isn’t just a "far right" issue. There are many people who own guns - Gee Deburca, I even know several Democrats who own guns!

By Lady Gator on 04/05/2009 1:41 pm

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Lady Gator…my hubby has never carried his off duty weapon with him when we go out to places but seeing all this violence we sat down and talked and he asked me how I would feel if he started to carry it with him…and I told him that was up to him…but I can say that I would feel safer knowing he had it with him in case we are ever in this type of situation, which I pray we never are.

By C Hardy on 04/03/2009 9:24 pm

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Lady: There are many sides to this issue!

I wonder if there are fewer murders and violent crimes in a country like Great Britain where even the police do not carry guns? I suspect the answer is no. For a while, Northern Ireland was just a murder a minute.

When a person is determined to go on a rampage such as in Binghamton, they will acquire a weapon. Might be a bomb, might be a gun… might be something else. Granted, guns are too readily available in the U.S., but I think that horse is out of the barn.

By Marjorie C. on 04/04/2009 6:17 am

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Marjorie — Yes, guns are too readily available, however, there are some states that don’t require intensive paperwork in order to own a gun. Proper registration, proper instruction, proper use.

I do believe that, at some point in your life, you have to think about yourself and your loved ones. It only takes one incident to make you realize that, possibly, you want the freedom and right to defend yourself. I hope that right is never taken away from us.

By Lady Gator on 04/04/2009 8:27 pm

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Murder rate per 100k people and per capita (2002)

Moldova,..6.7
**United States …5.63
Peru …………..5.5
Uruguay………4.3

Scotland …….2.69
Sweden…….2.64
Finland ……..2.17
Canada……. 2.04
New Zealand 2.00
Northern Ireland 1.68
France ………..1.59
England & Wales 1.43
**Australia ………..1.20
Switzerland ……1.1
Germany ……..0.98
Denmark……. 0.98
Japan………. 0.64
Hong Kong ….0.49
Singapore ……0.48

By DeBúrca obj on 04/04/2009 10:21 pm

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And your point is? You forget all the billions of dollars made by the gun/ammo manufacturers. This of course, is the real point of modern weaponry. This is all courtesy of corrupt politicians,and endless greed of corporatists. The suckers are there to be used, so use them. When the colonist "insurgents" wanted to protect their newly won freedom, and you needed guns for hunting, stealing Indian land, there was a real need for weapons. Now it’s all about money, and the biggest moneymaker…WAR. The incident in Binghampton was unpreventable, as is everything that is meant to happen. You can tell when it is meant to be, because it happens. I guess that’s true of all existing conditions.We are just stone and boulders encased in a massive, moving glacier called life on earth.

By albert miller on 04/06/2009 1:05 am