The New York shooter might have been a Targeted Individual. More research is needed, but based on this CNN article, he believes the police had been harassing him, spreading rumours, getting him to move and even breaking into his home while he was sleeping.

Transcript of letter purportedly sent by NY gunman
By The Associated Press – 15 hours ago

Text of letter sent to Syracuse, N.Y., TV station News 10 Now from a man identifying himself as Jiverly Wong, the gunman who killed 13 people, then himself, at the American Civic Association in Binghamton. The letter was handwritten in all capital letters on two sheets of paper. It was postmarked Friday, April 3, the day of the shootings.

Date March 18 2009

Dear NEW TEN NOW

I am Jiverly Wong Shooting the people.

The first I want to say sorry I know a little English. I hope you understand all of this. Of course you need to know why I shooting? Because undercover cop gave me a lot of ass during eighteen years I got seven years and eight month delivery to grocery in the California came back New York on the August 2007.

Let talk about when I live in California. Such as...cop used 24 hours the technique of ultramodern and camera for burn the chemical in my house. For switch the channel time...For adjust the fan. For made me unbreathable. For made me vomit. For connect the music into my ear.

Undercover cop usual coined some nasty was not true about me and spread a rumour to the receiver and some people know me conduce toward many people predudiced and selfish to me...cop made me lost my job...cop put me became poor.

Let talk about when I live at the 28 Baker St. 2nd Floor, Johnson City, New York 13790. It terrible when I live there such as...cop wait until midnight when I off the light and went to the bed. Cop unlock my door and came in take a sit in my room ((cop did it thirteen time on the year 1994 )) on the thirteen time had three time touch me when I sleeping. One time stolen 20 dollar in my wallet. One time used electric gun shoot at the behind my neck. (That time I did not know English)

Please continue second page thank you.

Page 2

From 1990 to 1995 New York undercover cop try to get a car accident with me. Such as when I driving on the highway and on the street undercover cop sunddenly brake the car stop immediately at the of front my car...cop did it 32 time like that during 1990 to 1995 but I never hit the car.

Many time from 1990 to 1997 at the day time...cop exploit unknow English and went to my house knock the door for harass and domineer. Of course during that time cop coined something was not true about me and spread a rumour nasty like the California cop.

From August 2007 until now cop gave me not to much ass only one time cop leave a massage in my voice mail and said (( come back your country )) after five minute I send a text massage to them I said I will call the police and they send it back to me they said they are the police.

Dear New Ten Now. Right now I still get unemploment benefit of the company Shop Vac Endicott. New York State Department of Labor was cheat and unpaid from December 1st 2008 to December 28th 2008 I already claim weekly benefit from that date.

Any way I can not accepted my poor life. Before I cut my poor life I must oneself get a judge job for make an impartial with undercover cop by at least two people with me go to return to the dust of earth.

Already impartial now..cop bring about this shooting. cop must responsible. And you have a nice day.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/apr/07/binghamton-shootings-040709/

NY gunman's letter showed classic signs
By WILLIAM KATES, The Associated Press
2:30 p.m. April 7, 2009



BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — A rambling letter from the gunman who killed 13 people at an immigrant community center offers a glimpse inside the mind of an angry, paranoid man who saw himself as a victim and was intent on destroying other lives before he took his own, analysts say.

It's hard to say, though, whether friends or relatives would have noticed the demons that tormented 41-year-old Jiverly Wong leading up to Friday's massacre at the American Civic Association.

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.

Authorities said Tuesday that they have no reason to doubt the letter was written by Wong. It was mailed to Syracuse TV station News 10 Now, complained of supposed harassment by police and grimly foretold of the mass murder.

"We have no reason to believe it's not (authentic)," Police Chief Joseph Zikuski said. "It's another piece of evidence in a very complex puzzle that's going to take us weeks and months to determine what's going on. It's going to help us."

A former FBI profiler who reviewed the letter called it a classic rant from a mass murderer.

"Everybody is out to get him, and the world is a threatening place," said Gregg McCrary, who is now an author and consultant based in Fredericksburg, Va.

In the disjointed letter mailed the day he opened fire inside the center, Wong blamed his troubles on the police and vowed to take at least two people "to return to the dust of earth." He ended the letter, neatly written in capital letters, on a chilling note: "And you have a nice day."

"Every mass murder we've ever studied has had a combination of paranoia ... depression and suicidality," said Park Dietz, who is president of Park Dietz & Associates Group Inc., a forensic litigation firm, and Threat Assessment Group Inc., a Newport Beach, Calif., violence prevention firm.

"This (letter) makes it clear how severe that paranoia was in this case," he said.

The letter, dated March 18, more than two weeks before the shooting, was accompanied by photos of Wong smiling with two guns, a gun permit and his driver's license.

Zikuski declined to discuss what police thought the letter said about Wong's mental state. He said he will leave that assessment to FBI experts.

"There are obviously some mental health issues there," Zikuski said.

After the letter surfaced Monday night, some community members wondered whether it should be harder to get a pistol permit.

"Quite frankly, I think they should do away with pistol permits on such people," said Arlene Ryant, whose granddaughter had one of the victims, Roberta King, as a substitute teacher. "They should do a more thorough background (check) to make sure they don't have any mental illnesses."

Federal law prohibits anyone with a court record of mental illness or outpatient mental health treatment from owning a gun, and Wong had no such records.

Zikuski said the letter hasn't gotten them any closer to figuring out why Wong, who had used the American Civic Association as a resource, targeted a classroom full of immigrants learning English there.

"We may never know that," he said.

The letter indicated he was angry with police for what he said were years of persecution. But records show few scrapes with the law, save for a bad check charge in California in 1992 and a speeding ticket there in 2007. An informant told state police that Wong was planning a bank robbery in 1999 to support his cocaine habit, but Zikuski said the information was never verified.

The chief was not aware that Wong had ever been put under surveillance by authorities in New York or California, as he claimed in the letter.

Wong's sister said on NBC's "Today" show she doesn't think the letter was written by him. The woman, who asked not to be identified, said her younger brother's handwriting was more like "chicken scratch" and his vocabulary too limited to have written such a letter.

DNA testing on the letter has not yet begun because police have to collect samples from the five or so News 10 Now employees who handled it, Zikuski said. But he noted that information earlier Tuesday that the letter might not be from Wong turned out to be incorrect.

Family members might not pick up on warning signs when someone becomes paranoid, so it's wrong to suggest they could have prevented the carnage, McCrary said.

"The paranoia makes them very distrustful so they tend to become reclusive," he said. "In hindsight, it's clear. You can go back and pick up the warning signs, probably. But family members and those around him are just going to think he's just a little weird, or troubled."

McCrary said the rampage could be viewed as "one big suicidal event."

"He's going out, but he's taking people out with him, and he's going out with a huge detonation," he said. "He's going to get all of our attention."

At the Court Jester athletic club, where Wong played racquetball and used a treadmill in the weeks before the shootings, Norm Donahue, 62, said he chatted with him two or three times.

"I would just say hello to him; I never really got any bad vibes," said Donahue, a retired school administrator who organizes the club's racquetball league.

Patrick Ranger, 28, lives across the street from the house where Wong lived with his parents and sister and met him occasionally, as neighbors do, "taking the garbage out, shoveling snow." He said Wong's behavior seemed to change in recent weeks.

Wong had "the same demeanor as if you were going through a divorce," said Ranger, a machinist with a wife and 16-month-old daughter. "Like, he would walk with his head down sometimes and not upbeat and everything, but not where you would be like, 'The guy's losing his marbles.' More like, the same as everyone who's having a bad day."

The letter was mailed from Binghamton and postmarked Friday, the day Wong went into the American Civic Association community center and started shooting. Two employees and 11 immigrants taking an English class died in the assault.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04052009/news/nationalnews/failed_life_for_killer_co ward_162952.htm

FAILED LIFE FOR KILLER 'COWARD'

* DIVORCED & LOST JOB BEFORE MASSACRE
* CO-WORKER WORRIED 'HE'D SHOOT US ALL'


By LORENA MONGELLI in Binghamton and TODD VENEZIA and JAMES FANELLI in New York City

The lunatic behind the Binghamton massacre was a pathetic, gun-loving coward who got divorced, lost his job and was driven to depression because he could barely speak English after many years in the United States, officials and people who knew him said yesterday.
 

His life in the pits, Jiverly Wong, 41, became a regular at Gander Mountain, a sporting goods store, in the six months leading up to the rampage, buying and returning as many as six guns after firing each a few times.

Wong -- who has a daughter in California, according to a coworker -- would get agitated when staffers had trouble with his broken English.

"He would get frustrated," Dave Henderson, who taught a class at the store, told the Press & Sun Bulletin of Binghamton. "There was times I wouldn't even talk to him anymore."

It was not clear if that was where he bought the two guns found on his body after Friday's massacre: 9mm and .45-caliber pistols.

His former co-workers at the ShopVac vacuum-cleaner assembly facility were equally frustrated by his communication problems, and were worried about his gun-loving ways.

On Mondays, when asked about his weekends, Wong routinely replied, "I went to a shooting range," said ex-colleague David Carrico, 18.

"He liked shooting guns. I was worried he would come into work one day, get angry and shoot us all."

It wasn't until five months after his November firing from ShopVac that he finally did snap -- but he directed his rage elsewhere, at the language school from which he essentially flunked out.


Wong on Friday picked up a pair of guns, hoisted a bulging sack of ammunition and marched maniacally into the American Civic Association, killing 13 people before turning the gun on himself. Another four victims remain hospitalized, but are expected to survive.

A clearer picture emerged yesterday of Wong's tale of woe before his grisly end.

The last 10 years of his sorry life included cocaine addiction, a bank-heist plan that never came to fruition, a divorce and lost jobs in New York and California.

Wong -- who at one point changed his last name to Voong, and also sometimes went by the name Linh -- was born in Vietnam to an ethnic Chinese family.

He came to the United States in the early 1990s with his family and became a naturalized citizen.

Wong quickly wound up in trouble, as court records in Los Angeles show that he was charged with forgery in 1992. It's not clear what became of the case. His family finally settled in Binghamton.

He got a gun permit in the mid-1990s.

New York officials investigated him in 1999 after an informant said that he was planning to rob a bank and had a "crack or cocaine" habit, Binghamton Police Chief Joseph Zikuski said. Nothing came of the allegations.

A couple of years later, Wong left for California, where he got a job driving a delivery truck for Kikka Sushi and lived in a cheap Inglewood motel. At the fleabag pay-by-the-month joint -- near the airport with bars on the windows -- all he had in his room was a bed and a 52-inch TV, fellow tenant Eric Sherman told The Post.

"All he would do is sit inside his apartment and chain-smoke," he said. "He didn't talk much and I just thought he didn't talk because he didn't really speak English."

Los Angeles court records also show that Wong was married. He was divorced in July 2005.

That was quickly followed by his abrupt departure from Kikka Sushi -- and the West Coast altogether.

Wong complained he was disgruntled at the company, where he made $500 per week.

Back in Binghamton, Wong was able to hold down a steady job at ShopVac until he was laid off, but was again upset over his low pay.


"I work so hard, but they only pay me $8 an hour," he complained to colleague Donald Ackley.

He was also tormented by some coworkers and sat alone in the lunchroom.

"Sometimes they picked on him a little bit," he said. "They would say, 'It's wrong, it's Wong, it's wrong, it's Wong.' "

Depressed and angry, he tried to better himself in the area where he was most vulnerable: his lack of English skills. He enrolled in an intermediate-level class at the association.

But once again he failed by hardly bothering to show up.

"His attendance was so erratic, he was dropped," said Elisabeth Hayes, his English teacher, who was out on vacation on the day of the massacre. Her substitute, Roberta King, 72, wound up dead.

"This was a nasty act of irrationality. Why did he have to do that?" Hayes asked. "We could have been there for him if he needed support. The class was kind to him.

"It's a true American nightmare."

In his final months, Wong -- who wore a hearing aid, according to driving records -- was miserable, surviving on $200 in unemployment benefits and living in his parents' gritty home.

By the time he was ready to commit his cold-blooded crime, the only place he found solace was at a gym, a pal said.

"He seemed a little depressed," said Son Quach, a grocery-store owner who had worked out with him at the Court Jester gym in nearby Johnson City.

He also griped about a recent break-up with his girlfriend, but would not elaborate.

Wong was inconsolable and often whined about his "bad luck."

"We picked up that apparently people were making fun of him and he felt that he was being degraded because of his inability to speak English and he was upset about that," Zikuski said.

The police chief said Wong's suicide was his final act of failure.

Police believe Wong planned to go out in a blaze of glory in a gunfight with cops, but got cold feet when he heard sirens and put a bullet between his eyes.

"He must have been a coward," Zikuski said.

"We speculate that when he heard the sirens, he decided to end his own life. He was heavily armed, had a lot of ammunition on him and, thank God, before more lives were lost, that he decided to do that."

Additional reporting by Tori Richards in Los Angeles, Josh Williams and Brad Hamilton in Binghamton and AP

lorena.mongelli@nypost.com

Below are excerpts of Post-Standard reporter Ngoc Huynh's interview with Henry Voong and his wife Mui Thong of Johnson City about their son Jiverly Wong, who shot 13 people and himself April 3 at the American Civic Association offices in Binghamton, NY. The interview was conducted in Vietnamese and took place Thursday at the Post-Standard in Syracuse. It was translated by reporter Ngoc Huynh.

What was your son like as a child?
Voong: My son, since he was a child, he was a good kid. He was normal average kid who didn't talk a lot. He liked to run around and play soccer.
Thong: He liked to roller skate. He used to roller skate around the house or outside the yard. He's a good eater. He's easy and can eat anything. He's always been quiet, but he would chat with his sisters and brother. He loved them and always helped them with whatever they needed.

Henry Voong expresses his fears that someone will take out revenge on him and his wife (In Vietnamese, no translation)

Henry Voong expresses his fears that someone will take out revenge on him and his wife (translated)



What was life like when you first came to the U.S.?
Voong: We came to Binghamton in June 1990. My family spent a lot of time together, ate together and often chatted. We watched TV together. He (my son) would joke with his siblings sometimes. We always stuck together because we were afraid we'd get lost in our new surroundings. I used to work for War Relief, an organization that helped people who just came to the U.S. It no longer exists in Binghamton but it was located inside the First Assembly of God church. I spoke some English so I helped resettle new immigrants and refugees by picking them up from the airport, taking them to school or a doctor's appointment. I was the only Vietnamese worker there. My goal upon arrival in the U.S. is to bring my children here so they can have a better future. With this tragedy, I am very sad and still in disbelief.



Did your son have psychological problems?
Voong: Maybe my son had some mental issues. I don't know because he lived most of his adult life away from us. When we first came to the U.S., while we were outside of our home, he said that someone wanted to kill him. He pointed to the empty air that people were after him and said they're in front of me and trying to capture me. I told him there was no one in front of him. I brought him to the hospital and the doctors examined him but didn't give him any medicine or treatment. They said he was normal and sent us home. I spoke a little bit of English at the time and don't know if communication was clear.

Did you notice anything unusual in the weeks before the incident?
Voong: About two weeks before what happened, he kept to himself and was even more quiet. He didn't speak at all. He avoided being in the house at the same time with me. He stopped eating dinner and when he got home, he would just go to his room. He stopped watching TV in the living room. At first, I thought maybe he was mad about something and was planning to ask him. This tragedy occurred before I even had a chance to ask him. I had a feeling something was different. He didn't even say hello or goodbye to me. He was completely silent. He seemed to pay attention to my schedule and intentionally avoided me.

Henry Voong and his wife Mui Thong thank friends and neighbors for their concern. (In Vietnamese, no translation)

Henry Voong and his wife Mui Thong thank friends and neighbors for their concern. (Translated)



Did he express frustration about losing his job?
Voong: He got laid off in November. He worked at Shop Vac in Endicott. He just said I'm laid off.
Thong: He just said I'm unemployed so I'm going to take courses in English and try to find another job.

What is his room like?
Voong: It is messy with clothes and shoes all over the floor. Not a big room, just enough for a bed and dresser. He liked animals. He had a fish bowl with a fish in it. He liked watching Animal Planet and other channels showing animals... I never saw him watch anything else. He has lots of calendars and posters of owls and animals like cat, dogs and birds. He likes watching lions and tigers. I have canaries and he's fond of them. I also have a large fish tank in the living room.

When did he move to California?
Voong: When we came to the U.S., he was in his early 20s. He lived with me for a short period of time, about a year, and then he moved into his own apartment and shortly thereafter he moved to Cali. He said he wanted to go there to find work. I didn't really know him as an adult because he lived in Cali for more than a decade. I didn't know about him getting married or divorced. I read that in the newspaper. In Cali, he never called me, never visited, even during the holidays like Christmas or New Years, he never contacted me. Once in a while, I would hear news about him from his sister. But he didn't give her a number or address, he just asked how everyone was doing. I didn't have his address or phone number. I don't know anything about his life in California. Something must of happened there.

What did he do when he was laid off?
Voong: He took classes at the American Civic Association and often went to the library after he got laid off. He used the computer at the library. He rented many movies from the library about animals like bears, birds, tigers, lions and crocodiles. He didn't call anyone and no one called him. No friends or girlfriends.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/jiverly_wongs_father_our_son_w.ht ml

Jiverly Wong's father: What prompted mass killing in Binghamton remains a mystery
by Ngoc Huynh / The Post-Standard
Monday April 13, 2009, 11:30 AM
Peter Chen / The Post-StandardHenry Voong and his wife Mui Thong, of Johnson City, pray for the victims of the shooting at the American Civic Center, in Binghamton, and for their son. Voong and Thong are the parents of Jiverly Wong, the gunman who shot and killed 13 people at the center. They wanted to express their sorrow and ask for forgiveness from the victims of their son's violence and the community. The couple are at the International Sangha Bhiksu Buddhist Temple, in Syracuse.

The first time he feared for his son's sanity was in the fall of 1990.

Sitting alone, Henry Voong and his son Jiverly Wong, were having a conversation outside their home on Baker Street in Johnson City. Sprinkled into their father-son conversation was terror from the mouth of a 22-year-old man. Wong told his father someone was trying to kill him.
"They're in front of me and trying to capture me," Wong told his father, pointing to the empty air before them.

Voong quickly realized his son was not joking and decided to take him to the hospital. Wong went willingly to escape his supposed captors. The family of six had been in the United States for about five months and only Henry Voong spoke English, broken at best. Voong said he realizes now that communicating with the doctors was unclear.

After two hours, the doctors told Voong there was nothing wrong with his son and they sent him home. Nineteen years later, Voong and his wife wonder if the incident was a sign.

Voong, 66, and Mui Thong, 61, say they don't know if their son suffered from mental illness. That incident 19 years ago is the only time they witnessed such erratic behavior or sought treatment for him. Wong's paranoia did not surface publicly again until April 6, when a letter written by Wong arrived at News 10 Now in Syracuse. The letter came three days after Wong opened fire at the American Civic Association in Binghamton, killing 13 people and then himself.

Wong wrote how undercover police officers taunted him, tortured him and spread rumors about him wherever he went. Voong said he has never seen any officers calling or visiting his son.
Why Wong did what he did remains a mystery, especially to the people who lived with him for nearly the last two years. His parents say he did not have any friends and rarely spoke to anyone.

To them, he lived a quiet, nearly silent existence for the last 19 years. According to his father, that silence deepened two weeks before the shooting. Wong stopped eating dinner, stopped watching television and rarely emerged from behind his bedroom door. The letter Wong sent to News 10 Now was dated March 18, a little more than two weeks before the shooting.

"He avoided being in the house at the same time with me," Voong said. "At first, I thought maybe he was mad about something and was planning to ask him. This tragedy occurred before I even had a chance to ask him."

Voong and Thong are trying to piece together the last few weeks -- even the last few years -- to find an answer to the question so many have: why?

"All parents raise their children to be good human beings," Voong said. "You never imagine in your wildest dreams that they would end up doing something so horrific."

The couple contacted The Post-Standard on Thursday because they wanted to apologize to the Binghamton community and all those affected by their son's actions.

"We are deeply sorry for our son's actions," Voong said. "Our family sincerely apologize to the victims' families and ask for their forgiveness."

The early days

The Voong family moved to Binghamton from Vietnam in June 1990. While ethnically Chinese, the Voongs said they left Saigon with the help of a program that assisted former South Vietnamese soldiers and political prisoners who were jailed after the Vietnam War ended. Voong served as a captain in the South Vietnamese Army.

In the early 1990s, Voong said, his wife and their four children spent a lot of time together.
Wong, the second oldest, would have been about 22 years old and spoke little to no English when the family moved to the Binghamton area. His parents say he often joked with his siblings during those early days. The family shared meals and often watched television together."We always stuck together because we were afraid we might get lost in our new surroundings," Voong said.

Many members of the Vietnamese community in Binghamton fondly recall Voong during that time. Diep Nguyen says Voong helped many new immigrants by translating and taking them to school or a doctor appointment.

"The Voongs are a good family and always willing to help others," Nguyen said. "Their son (Wong) kept to himself and rarely interacted with the Vietnamese community."

About a year after settling in the states, Wong moved out of his parents' home into a nearby apartment by himself. He worked at Felchar Manufacturer in Binghamton, a company that makes electric motors and power cords. Less than a year after that, Wong moved to California.
In many ways Voong and Thong say, that was the last time they saw their son.
A new name in California
Binghamton police say Wong became an American citizen in November 1995 and left the country shortly after. Wong's passport records, according to Binghamton police, say he returned to Los Angeles on Dec. 25, 1999, from Tokyo. Police say he was married and divorced in California but they have not disclosed the woman's name has not been reported. Wong's parents say they have no idea if any of that information is true.

"I don't know anything about his life in California," Voong said. "Something must of have happened there."

During the nearly 15 years he spent in California, Wong rarely kept in touch with his family. He never visited or sent letters. His phone calls were few and short and he refused to share a mailing address. Mail addressed to their son occassionally arrived at the family's Binghamton home. Voong recalls opening a piece addressed to Jiverly Wong, which was different from his son's given name of Linh Phat Voong.

"He must have changed his name after he got his citizenship," Voong said. "I was very angry because it's our family name. He can't just change our family name."
Back to the Southern Tier
After years of nearly total silence, Jiverly Wong called his father in 2007 and told him he had lost his job as a truck driver in California. He asked his father if he could come home. Voong said he was upset about not hearing from his son for so long, but welcomed him home. Voong said the man who arrived at their house nearly two years ago, was not the same person who left 15 years earlier.

He soon got a job working the 3-to-midnight shift at the Shop-Vac plant in Endicott. Voong said he and his wife and their daughter Milline rarely saw or interacted with Wong, especially since everyone worked different shifts. Wong was more quiet. He didn't have any friends and he didn't make or receive any telephone calls. He never wore short sleeves, even in the summer. He spent most of his time in his bedroom, but didn't make much noise. He always emerged from the bathroom after a shower fully clothed in long sleeves and pants.

Voong said his son kept to himself and spent most of his free time out of the house.
About a year ago, Voong said Wong slapped his youngest sister Milline, 35, who also lives with them, across the face during an argument. He said he didn't know what the argument was about but it was the only time he can recall his son being physically abusive.

The only other time Voong can recall his son having a temper was a time when Wong raised his voice to his father several months ago. Voong asked Wong to move a portable heater away from their leather couch.

In a raised voice, Voong said, "Dad, you're just being difficult."
Life after the layoff
In November 2008, Wong told his parents he had been laid off from Shop-Vac. While out of work, Wong told his parents he was going to take classes to improve his English at the American Civic Association. Whenever he left the house, Wong said he was going to the library to use the computer.

He checked out movies about animals. Posters and calendars of owls, cats, dogs and birds hung in his room.

"He liked animals," Voong said. "He had a fish bowl with a fish in it. He liked watching 'Animal Planet' and other channels showing animals... I never saw him watch anything else."

Voong and Thong say they know little else of the man who lived down the hall for more than a year. Voong said he never saw his son with a handgun, knew he owned one or heard him talk about going to a shooting range. Voong said he knew that his son owned an air rifle, which is similar to a BB gun. He also said he had never seen the room or setting in the photos of Wong holding guns that were sent to News 10 Now.
The day of the shooting
About noon on April 3, Voong said, he was at work when co-workers began talking about "an Asian guy shooting on Front Street by the American Civic Association."

Voong was worried. His son took classes at the center.

At their home on Taylor Street in Johnson City, Thong said she was sleeping that Friday when a police officer knocked on their door about 11 a.m. The officer told Thong something about a car being parked at the American Civic Association but she could not understand much because she speaks very little English.

She asked the officer to wait until her husband got home from work since his English is stronger. The officer waited at the house until Voong arrived home between 3 and 4 p.m.
Voong said he was surprised to see several Binghamton police cars at his house and immediately believed something had happened to Wong at the center.

Police brought Voong, Thong and their daughter to the police station for questioning. Police spoke with the family for nearly four hours without a translator. Shortly before wrapping up the interview at about 8 p.m., police told Wong's parents that their son had died. Vong says they never explained his role in the shooting.

Upset by the news of their son's death, Voong and Thong returned home but did not watch any news, which by nearly that time included the name of the alleged shooter: Jiverly Wong.
Voong and Thong said they learned of their son's role in the shooting by reading Saturday's newspaper.

"We were horrified and we couldn't believe it," Voong said. "I never suspected that my son would be dead. I especially never thought he would be a killer."

Even family members in Vietnam heard about the shooting and called the family. Wong's 91-year-old paternal grandmother cried and couldn't believe her grandson's actions, according to Voong.
Moving forward
For more than a week, reporters from across the country have set up shop on the family's street, in their front yard and on their answering machine. Voong and Thong say they are living in a constant state of fear and devastation.

They are afraid to go out in public and have not yet returned to their jobs in assembly work.
They say they cannot eat and have a hard time sleeping through the night. They fear retaliation from the victims' families or anyone in the community.

To their surprise, Voong and Thong say they have received more than 50 cards and dozens of many cards and floral arrangements supporting them and offering their sympathy and food at their doorstep. They say they are surprised and feel grateful.

"I thank members of the community who have been so kind and understanding," Voong said. "Still, I am very worried about possible retaliation from some folks. We're just two old parents who had no control over their 41-year-old son's actions. We ask everyone to forgive us for having such a son."

After their interview at The Post-Standard, Voong and Thong went to the International Sangha Bhiksu Buddist Temple on Park Street in Syracuse to pray for the victims and their son.
Because of the severity of his injuries, the family chose to cremate Wong's body. They plan to spread his ashes in the ocean, which they hope will "free his soul."

Voong and Thong say they want to continue to live in Binghamton, the city where they sought a future for themselves and their family.

"My goal upon arrival in the U.S., is to bring my children here so they can have a better future," Voong said. "With this tragedy, I am very saddened and still in disbelief."

One more article I find interesting. The police claim to only have had contact with him twice, although we should remember that shortly after coming to the country he had the false cheque charge, so they must have been involved then. It would not surprise me if that set off, what was to come.  The interesting part for me is that after these two incidents, a snitch at some point in 1999, just a few months later, went to the police with some story about him being a drug addict, and about to take part in a bank robbery.

Why do I think these incident could fit neatly into place? You don't have to have a lot of direct involvment with the police for them to be harassing you, how many times have we heard stories of police harassment, from targets and none targets alike, and many of them do not have more than 1 or 2 direct contact incidents with the police.

Anyways, here is the story below.



http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/nyregion/08binghamton.html?_r=1

Police Had Few Contacts With Killer

By AL BAKER and LIZ ROBBINS

April 7, 2009

The police department that Jiverly Wong, the Binghamton gunman, apparently blamed for some of his troubles said on Tuesday that it had had only two interactions with Mr. Wong, two days apart more than a decade ago.


Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times
Chief Joseph Zikuski of the Binghamton police.
Mr. Wong, who shot 13 people to death at a citizenship class for immigrants on Friday before killing himself, had sent a letter to a Syracuse television station accusing the police of breaking into his home numerous times in the 1990s, stealing $20 from him and trying to force him into car accidents on the highway. The letter, written in choppy English, referred to when he lived in Johnson City, just outside Binghamton, in the 1990s.

The Johnson City police said it had one encounter with Mr. Wong on Aug. 1, 1998, when he walked into the department’s headquarters to say he suspected someone had tried to break into his apartment through a window, said Lt. David Smith, the department’s detective division commander.

An officer from the 40-person force went to Mr. Wong’s apartment but said in a report that there were no suspects and no leads and that Mr. Wong indicated nothing damaged or missing.

“Window may have popped out and fallen out of place due to the natural deterioration of window glazing,” said the report. “No physical evidence to suggest a forced entry attempt.”

Two days later, a uniformed officer pulled Mr. Wong over as he drove a 1988 Honda on Main Street, said Lieutenant Smith. He was issued a traffic ticket for an uninspected vehicle, the lieutenant added, saying that the car stop was not part of any continuing investigation. Mr. Wong paid a $20 court charge; the fine was waived.

“Both have nothing whatsoever to do with anything he is indicating in his letter,” said Lieutenant Smith. “These are the only two contacts that we have had with Jiverly Wong.”

The letter, which arrived at the television station on Monday and was postmarked Friday, the day of the shooting, began: “I am Jiverly Wong shooting the people.”

In two pages of choppy English, Mr. Wong laid out a series of complaints about the police in New York and in California, where he lived off and on before moving back to Johnson City about two years ago. He blamed the police in California for controlling his television and fan and for “connect the music into my ear.”

Officials said Mr. Wong was arrested two times in California in the early 1990s: once in September 1992 on a charge of bouncing a check, and earlier, in August 1991, though the details of that case remain unclear.

Chief Joseph Zikuski of the Binghamton police said earlier that Mr. Wong also caught the attention of law enforcement officials in Binghamton in 1999, after they received a tip that he was planning a bank robbery and had a crack cocaine habit.

But when asked on Tuesday at a news conference about the report of a bank robbery, or possibly two bank robberies, Chief Zikuski said, “There’s nothing to either one of those about a bank robbery.”

Mr. Wong wrote that he could not accept his life and that “at least two people with me go to return to the dust of earth” before ending his letter: “Cop bring about this shooting. Cop must be responsible. And you have a nice day.”

Chief Zikuski said the letter was authentic.

“We have no reason to believe it’s not,” the chief said.

He added that his department had sent the letter to the behavioral analysis unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, calling it “another piece of evidence in a very complex puzzle that’s going to take us weeks and months to determine what’s going on.”

He said the letter might not explain key facts of the case, including why Mr. Wong, a Vietnamese refugee who was a naturalized citizen, would take out his anger at immigrants taking classes at the American Civic Association. People who knew Mr. Wong have speculated that he was despondent after recently losing his job with a vacuum-cleaner company and that he was frustrated by his struggles with English.

“There are still a lot of unanswered questions, like why the civic association? We may never know that,” Chief Zikuski said.

He would not discuss any preliminary theories about what the letter showed, other than to state: “There are obviously some mental health issues here,” and that “we saw some religious overtones.” Officials declined to say whether they were aware of Mr. Wong’s having had any history of mental health problems.

In addition to investigating the letter, the Binghamton police and the F.B.I. were examining Mr. Wong’s computer.