41 hostages taken at the American Civic Association in Binghampton NY!! this sounds scary!

[angeleyeza]

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – A law enforcement official says a gunman at an immigration services center in New York state entered the building firing after blocking the back door.
The official says the gunman used his car to barricade the rear door of the building and then entered through the front. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the situation continued.
Officials and media reports say at least six people have been injured and as many as 41 hostages taken at the American Civic Association.
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Associated Press writer Devlin Barrett in Washington contributed to this report.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP) — A gunman entered an immigration services center in downtown Binghamton on Friday, injured at least six people and took as many as 41 hostages, officials said.
Mayor Matthew Ryan told the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin that there was a hostage situation involving a gunman with a high-powered rifle.
The FBI was sending hostage negotiators and an evidence response team to the scene, said a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the situation continued.
The newspaper reported 41 hostages in the building of the American Civic Association and said apartments were being evacuated.
Emergency dispatchers were in contact with some people inside by phone, WBNG-TV reported. The gunman might still be in the building, the newspaper reported. The Binghamton SWAT team responded.
Indications were that the shooter was a young male, and it wasn't immediately clear whether he was still in the building, the law enforcement official said.
Five people with gunshot wounds were being treated at Wilson Medical Center in Johnson City, according to hospital spokeswoman Christina Boyd.
The wounded ranged in age from 20 to their mid-50s, and their conditions ranged from stable to critical, she said.
Linda Miller, a spokeswoman at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton, confirmed that a student from Binghamton University was being treated at the emergency room.
A police dispatcher who spoke to The Associated Press wouldn't confirm a number of people shot or injured.
Around 1 p.m., Pennie Kerber, 72, told the AP in a phone call from her home across the street that the scene appeared to be settling down.

"The cops are all standing around in the front now. They're still all over the roof for sure," she said. "The SWAT shooters that were to the side of the building look like they're not there any more. It looks like it's clearing."
The area is in a stretch on the west side of the Chenango River in the city of about 45,000 near the Pennsylvania border. Emergency vehicles lined the streets in the neighborhood, a mix of homes and small businesses.
College student Leslie Shrager told the AP that she and her five housemates were sleeping when police pounded on the front door of their house next door to the shooting scene.
Officers escorted the six Binghamton University students outside, she said, and that's when they learned of the shooting.
"One of our housemates thought they heard banging of some kind. But when you're living in downtown Binghamton, it's always noisy," said Shrager, of Slingerlands, an Albany suburb. "Literally two minutes later the cops came and got us out."
The American Civic Association describes itself as helping immigrants and refugees with counseling, resettlement, citizenship, family reunification and translators. It also intervenes with emergencies, including fighting, hunger and homelessness, according to information from the association's Web site.
AP source: Binghamton gunman entered firing - Yahoo! News

[CouponSAHM]

AP report says 4 Dead, 6 shot. So sad...
other reporting agency claiming 13 dead

[oceanbreeze]

omg...

[angeleyeza]

all we can do is pray that those that are left will come out ok :(