Hate-filled Lunatic Attacks Jews in Seattle
Six Are Shot at Seattle Jewish Center
SEATTLE, July 28 — Five people were injured and one was killed Friday afternoon when a man who expressed anger toward Jews opened fire in the offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, the authorities said.
The Seattle Police did not identify the suspect. They said he was arrested 12 minutes after the first report came in to emergency dispatchers. At 4:03 p.m., according to Assistant Chief Nick Metz, dispatchers received a call saying people had been shot and hostages taken at the offices of the federation, a fund-raising and planning organization at the edge of downtown.
Two minutes later, 911 dispatchers were on the phone with the suspect, said Chief R. Gil Kerlikowske of the Seattle Police, at a news conference Friday night.
Because of what the suspect said in that conversation, which the chief would not disclose, the shootings are being treated as a hate crime, he said. Chief Kerlikowske said the suspect was Muslim.
The authorities said they did not think the suspect was acting as part of a terrorist group.
"We believe at this point that it's just a lone individual acting out some kind of antagonism toward this particular organization," said David Gomez, the Federal Bureau of Investigation agent who heads its counterterrorism unit in Seattle.
Mr. Gomez said his agency had been "monitoring" both Jewish and Muslim organizations, and reaching out to their leaders "for the last couple of weeks, since the beginning of hostilities in the Middle East."
Frederick Dutt, an F.B.I. agent, said the agency had issued two bulletins, on July 21 and on Wednesday, urging "vigilance" at organizations and religious locations in light of the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in the Middle East. "Not specific targets because we didn't have that information, to be honest," he said.
Mr. Dutt noted there was an attack on a mosque in Seattle after Sept. 11, 2001. And the F.B.I. investigated two mosques for ties to Al Qaeda.
Marla Meislin-Dietrich, who works in the federation's development department but was not in the office at the time of the shooting, said a colleague told her that one shooting victim said she had heard the gunman say "that he was a Muslim-American and that he was angry at Israel."
"That's all I know," said Ms. Meislin-Dietrich, who spent the day working — and learning to bake challah — at the home of Amy Wasser-Simpson, the federation's vice president. "I talked to the person who was running out of the building with the person who was shot in the arm. She gave me the quote."
"The news is quoting us, and we don't know," she added. "We don't know who's dead, we don't know for sure."
Sgt. Deanna Nollette of the police said she believed all of the victims were women.
Ms. Meislin-Dietrich said that about 25 people typically work in the group's offices, which occupy the entire second floor of a modest building on Third Avenue in the Belltown neighborhood. Fewer were there Friday afternoon because of the onset of the Sabbath and because it is summer, she said.
The police found a vehicle they believed belonged to the suspect and planned to test it for explosives although they did not expect to find any, Chief Metz said.
The police closed off several blocks around the federation's offices and briefly required people to stay inside other buildings nearby. At one point there was concern among people nearby that a gunman was on the rooftops, but Rich Pruitt, a spokesman for the Seattle Police, said those fears were unfounded.
The police said they recovered a handgun that the suspect put down before he surrendered.
Laura Laughlin, special agent in the F.B.I.'s Seattle office, said that the suspect was a United States citizen and that agents were interviewing his relatives.
Mayor Greg Nickels said at the news conference, "This is a crime of hate, and there's no place for that in the city of Seattle."
Asked whether the suspect had links to a local mosque, Mr. Nickels said, "He's not a resident of the city, and we know of no other connection he has."
By WILLIAM YARDLEY and JODI RUDOREN
Published: July 29, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/29/us/29seattle.html?th&emc=th
SEATTLE, July 28 — Five people were injured and one was killed Friday afternoon when a man who expressed anger toward Jews opened fire in the offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, the authorities said.
The Seattle Police did not identify the suspect. They said he was arrested 12 minutes after the first report came in to emergency dispatchers. At 4:03 p.m., according to Assistant Chief Nick Metz, dispatchers received a call saying people had been shot and hostages taken at the offices of the federation, a fund-raising and planning organization at the edge of downtown.
Two minutes later, 911 dispatchers were on the phone with the suspect, said Chief R. Gil Kerlikowske of the Seattle Police, at a news conference Friday night.
Because of what the suspect said in that conversation, which the chief would not disclose, the shootings are being treated as a hate crime, he said. Chief Kerlikowske said the suspect was Muslim.
The authorities said they did not think the suspect was acting as part of a terrorist group.
"We believe at this point that it's just a lone individual acting out some kind of antagonism toward this particular organization," said David Gomez, the Federal Bureau of Investigation agent who heads its counterterrorism unit in Seattle.
Mr. Gomez said his agency had been "monitoring" both Jewish and Muslim organizations, and reaching out to their leaders "for the last couple of weeks, since the beginning of hostilities in the Middle East."
Frederick Dutt, an F.B.I. agent, said the agency had issued two bulletins, on July 21 and on Wednesday, urging "vigilance" at organizations and religious locations in light of the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in the Middle East. "Not specific targets because we didn't have that information, to be honest," he said.
Mr. Dutt noted there was an attack on a mosque in Seattle after Sept. 11, 2001. And the F.B.I. investigated two mosques for ties to Al Qaeda.
Marla Meislin-Dietrich, who works in the federation's development department but was not in the office at the time of the shooting, said a colleague told her that one shooting victim said she had heard the gunman say "that he was a Muslim-American and that he was angry at Israel."
"That's all I know," said Ms. Meislin-Dietrich, who spent the day working — and learning to bake challah — at the home of Amy Wasser-Simpson, the federation's vice president. "I talked to the person who was running out of the building with the person who was shot in the arm. She gave me the quote."
"The news is quoting us, and we don't know," she added. "We don't know who's dead, we don't know for sure."
Sgt. Deanna Nollette of the police said she believed all of the victims were women.
Ms. Meislin-Dietrich said that about 25 people typically work in the group's offices, which occupy the entire second floor of a modest building on Third Avenue in the Belltown neighborhood. Fewer were there Friday afternoon because of the onset of the Sabbath and because it is summer, she said.
The police found a vehicle they believed belonged to the suspect and planned to test it for explosives although they did not expect to find any, Chief Metz said.
The police closed off several blocks around the federation's offices and briefly required people to stay inside other buildings nearby. At one point there was concern among people nearby that a gunman was on the rooftops, but Rich Pruitt, a spokesman for the Seattle Police, said those fears were unfounded.
The police said they recovered a handgun that the suspect put down before he surrendered.
Laura Laughlin, special agent in the F.B.I.'s Seattle office, said that the suspect was a United States citizen and that agents were interviewing his relatives.
Mayor Greg Nickels said at the news conference, "This is a crime of hate, and there's no place for that in the city of Seattle."
Asked whether the suspect had links to a local mosque, Mr. Nickels said, "He's not a resident of the city, and we know of no other connection he has."
By WILLIAM YARDLEY and JODI RUDOREN
Published: July 29, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/29/us/29seattle.html?th&emc=th
posted by R7 | 7/30/2006 01:05:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home