Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/07/29
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Slobodan, Steve: Thanks to both of you for your concern. LUG: FYI. What I know now is as of the 11:00 PM news Friday night, with some details still sketchy or conflicting. Here it is, from memory, forgive me if I distort a detail or two. About 4:00 this afternoon, a man walked into the Jewish Federation office. He waited until a staff member punched in their security code, and pushed his way in. A witness reported that he said, "I am a Muslim American, I'm angry about Israel." Then he started shooting with a semi-automatic pistol. He killed one woman and injured 5 others. Two of those injured are in satisfactory condition, three are critical. One of the "satisfactory condition" victims is in the early stages of pregnancy. She was shot in the arm, both she and the baby are expected to be OK. The three "criticals" had wounds to the limbs and abdomen, and required surgery. Victims' names not released yet, ages range from 19 - fortysomething (?). The shooter called 911, told them what he'd done. There's some conflicting information about whether he said he had hostages, or if the cops simply treated it as a hostage situation. A cop at the communications center talked him into surrendering. He is of Pakistani origin, but is an American citizen. He lives in Pasco, one of the "Tri-Cities" on the Eastern side of the Cascade mountains, home of Hanford and the Pacific Northwest National Lab. The shooter is "known" to law enforcement in the Tri-Cities. He has some record, but nothing violent, and is awaiting trial for "lewd conduct." The police/FBI so far are saying they think he acted alone. My speculation: Sounds like a guy who already had a screw slightly loose, and was driven over the edge by current events. No information has been given about what the shooter has said to police by way of explanation. One synagogue official mentioned that there had been some non-specific warnings about a possible non-specific threat earlier this week, whatever that means. Given the Lebanon situation, I'd be surprised if that were not the case. That may have nothing to do with the shooting. Anyway, the "authorities" have contacted all synagogues and Jewish organizations and advised them to be extra careful. There are police stationed at every synagogue in the area, and at mosques as well. After the shooting, the bomb squad did a sweep of several square blocks, including every parked vehicle. Area buildings were locked down for about an hour or quickly evacuated. Rush hour traffic was a mess, of course. There's no evidence so far of a wider plot, but the cops and FBI are not kidding around. The shooting was in the Belltown area, also known as the "Denny Regrade." It's just north of downtown Seattle. I could walk there from my office in 20 minutes. I'm OK, I was nowhere near the site when the shooting happened. I'm very upset, of course, as are all decent people. --Peter