 | Follow-up on the story we started late yesterday, so forgive the duplicate information. I'm promoting this to page 1 as I think it's WoT related. Please post updates in the comments, and the mods will move new information into a new post later today. |
SEATTLE – One person is dead and five others have been injured in a shooting at the Jewish Federation at 2031 Third Ave. in downtown Seattle. One suspect has been taken into custody. Seattle police spokesman Rich Pruitt said police are confident that only one shooter was involved.
| From what I've heard to date, that's likely true. The guy sounds like a nutball... |
Sources told KING 5 the suspect is a 31-year-old Pakistani man with a criminal background. He is from the Pasco but his citizenship status or how long he has lived in the United States is unknown. Also unknown is what sort of criminal record he has. Officials are on the way to the Pasco to interview his family. FBI spokesman David Gomez said officials believe the suspect acted alone and is not affiliated with a foreign organization.
| That's a big claim to make. How about a little investigation first, Dave? |
| It's another Angry Brown Male story. It's the loneliness that gets to them. They're too far out of their element. Back home, he was with all his friends. He was comfortable. They'd get together down at the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi cell and compare turbans and plot a few murders. Here, he's by himself. Can't even get together a big enough gang to beat up a Jew. |
According to the Seattle Times, a man got through security at the Jewish Federation and told staff members, "I'm a Muslim American; I'm angry at Israel," then began shooting, according to Amy Wasser-Simpson, the vice president for planning and community services for the Jewish Federation.
| Kinda says it all, doesn't it? "I'm a Muslim American of Pak origin and I've brought my national fixation on religion coupled with mindless violence with me, so I'm going to kill somebody at random." |
A Harborview Medical Center spokesperson said five women were brought in, and three of them are in critical condition. They have not yet been identified. Their ages are 23, 27, 29, 19 and 43. The 43-year-old woman was reportedly shot in the abdomen. Two vicitms were in satisfactory condition: a woman, who's 17 weeks pregnant whowas shot in the arm and another victim with a knee injury.
| Unlike ABMs, 43-year-old Jewish ladies are unlikely to be armed and dangerous, especially in Seattle. Prob'ly he's poor and oppressed and can't afford plane fare to go to Beirut to join up with Hezbollah and fight actual Zionists. Besides which, they're Shiites, so all his friends back at the Jhangvi cell would make fun of him before they killed him. |
A joint terrorism task force joined SWAT teams and a bomb disposal unit at the scene. The suspect's vehicle, a pick-up truck was in a nearby garage in the Bed, Bath and Beyond building, at 1930 Third Ave. Police cordoned off part of the garage before they determined there were no explosives.
| More on local opinion, interviews with witnesses, etc. in this story. |
From the Seattle PI, snipping the duplicate information:
One witness, who declined to give her name, said a man walked into the Jewish Federation building with a gun, said he was upset about what was going on in Israel, then opened fire. After the shootings, the man said to call 911, the witness said. The witness said the man identified himself as an American Muslim. Police officers throughout the city were being asked to step up patrols of Jewish synagogues and Jewish organizations.
| But don't go stopping Punjabi males, mind you. We must be sensitive. CAIR will be rushing to the defense tomorrow, if they're not there already. |
The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle was established 1926. According to its Web site, its mission is to "ensure Jewish survival and to enhance the quality of Jewish life locally, in Israel and worldwide." The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle is a fund raising and fund allocation organization. "It is the Jewish version of the United Way," Rabbi Daniel Weiner said. He said he is at a loss to understand why people in that building would be attacked.
"To delve into the mind of a clearly troubled and disturbed person is impossible," Weiner said. "It is heartbreaking to think of what is transpiring."
| Really, Dan, it's not that hard. And we'll be seeing more of it in the future, since we're a welcoming society and we wallow in the delights of Diversity™, whether it drops the advocates of violence on our shores or not. |
The Jewish Federation building is known for its security with gates and buzzers, puzzling many who go there as to how the gunman entered.
And from the Seattle Times:
Even as rabbis were trying to find out more about security in preparation for tonight's services, Robert Jacobs, the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, was issuing a recommendation to every Jewish institution, synagogue and temple that they get their people out of their buildings "until we find out if it's a lone incident."
| Just another lone incident, nothing to see, move along ... |
| It probably is, but there are probably more lone incidents out there waiting to happen. We've got three of them in today's 'Burg... |
"We're trying to keep the community as calm as possible," he added.
| That statement means something entirely different in Seattle from what it means in Multan. Somehow I can't picture Jewish mobs roaming the streets, torching cars, and looting shops. |
| American Jews don't seethe well, it's not in their nature ... |
Rabbi Daniel Weiner of Temple De Hirsch Sinai had said he was checking with police to see if security there needed to be bolstered, if indeed, the shootings were related to wider issues. But several rabbis said they were continuing with services anyway. "Even if [the shooting] is based on hate, we're not going to let that have any kind of victory over our community gathering," said Rabbi Jonathan Singer of Seattle's Temple Beth Am. |