news Pakistan Taliban Head:Responsible For Binghamton Attack

[templetonstoy]

This tragedy happened less than an hour from where I live....local news has not reported the Taliban claim.

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud claimed responsibility for the attack on an immigration services center in Binghamton, N.Y., the Press Trust of India reported Saturday.

Mehsud said that a Pakistani and another man carried it out the attack, which left 14 people, including a man the police suspected of being the gunman, dead during a killing spree Friday.

A man, identified as Jiverly Voong by ABC News, reportedly entered the American Civic Association in downtown Binghamton, about 140 miles northwest of New York City, at 10:30 a.m. EDT and opened fire.

Binghamton police chief Joseph Zikuski confirmed the death count during a Friday afternoon press conference and said four were wounded during the shooting. Zikuski said 13 of the bodies were found in one room at the center and the 14th was a receptionist in the building.

A second receptionist, who survived and was shot in the stomach, was the first to see the gunman and pretended to be dead as the gunman passed, Zikuski said.

The gunman held hostages for several hours before shooting himself, police said. Zikuski said the gunman was believed to be one of the dead, but that authorities weren't "100% sure."

The Associated Press reported the suspected gunman had recently been laid off from International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) in Johnson City. A company spokesman said he couldn't confirm the suspect's association with IBM.

The suspect was described as an Asian male, between 5-feet, 8-inches and 6 feet tall, wearing a bright green nylon jacket and dark-rimmed glasses.

Law enforcement sources told NBC News that several weapons were recovered from the shooting scene and the gunman acted alone.