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Scene of the attack
Photo: AP

1 dead, 5 hurt in Seattle Jewish center shooting

Woman killed, five other women wounded when gunman opens fire at Jewish organization that last weekend organized rally in support of Israel; eyewitness says man shouted 'I'm a Muslim American, I'm angry at Israel' before shooting

A man walked into a Jewish organization and opened fire, killing one woman and injuring at least five

others before he was arrested, officials said.

 

The gunman, who employees said claimed to be a Muslim angry at Israel, forced his way through the security door at the Jewish Federation after an employee had punched in her security code, said Marla Meislin-Dietrich, a co-worker who was not at the building at the time.

 

Staff members said they overheard him saying "'I am a Muslim American, angry at Israel,' before opening fire on everyone," Meislin-Dietrich said. "He was randomly shooting at everyone."

 


Paramedics evacuate the injured (Photo: AP)

 

Naveed Afzal Haq was taken into police custody late Friday for investigation of homicide and attempted homicide. Laura Laughlin, special agent in charge of the Seattle FBI office, said the suspect is a U.S. Citizen who is not from Seattle. Agents were working to contact his relatives, she said.

 

Police would not confirm the account.

 

When asked if the suspect was a Muslim, Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said at a news conference "You could infer that that was his background." Kerlikowske gave no further details about the man except that he was between 30 and 40.

 

Authorities have been advising synagogues and Jewish groups to be watchful in the weeks since hostilities erupted between Israel and Lebanon.

 

The federation's Web site describes its mission as "to ensure Jewish survival and enhance the quality of Jewish life by meeting needs locally, in Israel and worldwide."

 

Roads blocked off

 

Jim Pugel, an assistant police chief, said the shooter called police and was talked out of the building.

 

Police blocked off several city blocks and evacuated several nearby buildings as they investigated. A SWAT team searched the federation building, looking for any other victims or any other possible shooters, police spokesman Rich Pruitt said.

 


Police on high alert after attack (Photo: AP)

 

But Pruitt said investigators were confident that the man they had in custody was the only suspect.

 

Patti Simon was at work at the federation's newspaper on the first floor when she heard the commotion and what sounded like furniture crashing on the second floor.

 

"We heard this horrible screaming on the floor above us and shots," said Simon, 52, who sells advertising at the paper. "We didn't know what was happening."

 

Simon called up to her co-workers on the second floor, but got no answer, so she called the police and fled the building.

 

"People got shot, some of our co-workers," Simon said, her voice shaking. "I just got back from Israel and made it out of there a half hour before the rockets started."

 

A small pool of blood remained outside a nearby coffee shop, where several witnesses said they saw a man walk up and shoot a woman in the leg on a sidewalk.

 

One person died at the scene of the shooting, and five women ranging in age from 19 to 43 were taken to Harborview Medical Center, three of them in critical condition, Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick said.

 

Deanna Nollette, a police spokeswoman, said the deceased was a woman who was shot.

 

The names of the victims were not immediately released.

 


פרסום ראשון: 07.29.06, 04:35
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