Seattle Shootings Update

The Associated Press has an updated story about the shootings at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle yesterday. Not a lot of new information, I'm afraid, but they have a few things such as the name of the shooter and the fact that he is an American citizen.

Authorities said a man walked into the Jewish agency on Friday and opened fire, killing one woman and injuring at least five others in what they call a hate crime. Naveed Afzal Haq, 30, was booked into the King County Jail for investigation of homicide and attempted homicide, police said.

The gunman, who employees said claimed to be a Muslim angry at Israel, forced his way through the center's security door 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."

Police would not confirm the account. When asked if the suspect was Muslim, Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said at a news conference, "you could infer that that was his background."

As employees fled the center, a SWAT team raced to the scene and blocked off several downtown blocks. The gunman surrendered moments later after speaking with a 911 dispatcher. That conversation led police to believe the shooting was a hate crime, authorities said.

"This was a purposeful, hateful act, as far as we know by an individual acting on his own," Mayor Greg Nickels said at the news conference.

Authorities said officers were moving to protect both synagogues and mosques around the city but there was no evidence of a broad threat. Police were protecting mosques "because there's always the concern of retaliatory crime," Kerlikowske said.

Authorities have been advising synagogues and Jewish groups to be watchful in the weeks since hostilities erupted between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. They said the warning was not in response to any specific threats.

One hopes that security will be tightened even further in light of this attack.