THE gunman who killed 13 people and himself in a New York state immigrant centre sent a letter to a local television station before his shooting spree that ended with the words, "And you have a nice day".
Jiverly Wong, 41, a Vietnamese immigrant, wore body armour as he entered the Binghamton building where he had been studying English and opened fire on immigrants taking an exam to become US citizens.
"I am Jiverly Wong shooting the people," began
the letter that was sent to News 10 Now. It was posted last Friday but had been dated 18 March, more than two weeks before the attack.
Police said the letter, which was sent in a package including Wong's driving licence and gun permit, was believed to be authentic.
Wong included photos of himself with two handguns – possibly the two he used in the attack in Binghamton, about 150 miles from New York City.
Wong apologised for his poor English in the rambling, two-page, hand-written letter.
"Of course you need to know why I shooting?" he wrote, but never fully explained the reason. He made some unclear references to police harassment in New York and California.
Local police chief Joseph Zikuski said there was no apparent motive for the attack, adding:
"There's obviously some mental health issues there; we saw some religious overtones."
