NY shooting victims from China, other nations

BINGHAMTON, New York (Reuters) - The 13 people shot to death by a Vietnamese-born man in a U.S. immigration services center last week came from a host of nations including China, Haiti, the Philippines and Iraq, authorities said on Sunday.

The nationalities of the victims were released as police continued to investigate the mass murder Friday at the American Civic Association building in Binghamton, New York, which provided English classes and other services to newcomers.

Four of the dead were from China. Others came from the Philippines, Iraq, Brazil, Haiti, Vietnam, the United States and Pakistan. They ranged in age from 22 to 72, Binghamton Mayor Matthew Ryan's office said.

The gunman, identified as Jiverly Wong, 41, also died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Four others were injured in the attack.

Broome County District Attorney Gerald Mollen told a news conference that the shootings occurred so quickly that a faster police response would not have saved lives.

"None of the people who had been shot could have been saved even if the police had walked in the door within the first minute," he said. Police arrived minutes after the first emergency calls were received.

Binghamton Police Chief Joseph Zikuski said authorities were still piecing together Wong's motive, though he added that the immigrant had felt degraded by his inability to speak English and was upset by the recent loss of his job.

Wong, a U.S. citizen who had taken English classes at the center, had lived in California before moving into a home with his parents and sister in New York. He was also described as a gun enthusiast who often visited firing ranges.

"This action he took was not a surprise" to people who were close to him, Zikuski said.

The carnage in Binghamton, a town of some 45,000 people about 150 miles northwest of New York City, was the worst mass shooting in the United States since the 2007 massacre at the Virginia Tech college.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud, editing by Vicki Allen and Paul Simao)