First, I heard this news on GEO but couldnt believe it…so i searched the CNN site and found this article…
*Saturday, July 29, 2006; Posted: 11:48 a.m. EDT (15:48 GMT) *
SEATTLE, Washington (CNN) – Seattle police were protecting temples and mosques Saturday after a suspected hate killing prompted fears of the Middle East crisis spreading to the United States.
Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said a Muslim gunman killed a woman and wounded five others at a Jewish center in Seattle, Washington, Friday afternoon, and police were protecting mosques as well as synagogues out of fears of retaliation.
A U.S. citizen, Naveed Afzal Haq, has been arrested and booked on a charge of murder and five charges of attempted murder.
(The 31-year-old Muslim of Pakistani descent was angry at Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon, officials said.
In a written statement, the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Friday condemned the attack.
“The American Muslim and Jewish communities must do whatever is within their power to prevent the current conflict in the Middle East from being transplanted to this country,” the Washington-based civil rights and advocacy group said.
Robert Jacobs, Pacific Northwest Regional director for the Anti-Defamation League, told CNN the group has been warning Jewish institutions to be wary and have adequate security because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
If they cannot, he said, it would be better for Jews “not to congregate in one location that might be an obvious site.”
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels described Friday’s shooting as “a crime of hate.” “There’s no place for that in the city of Seattle,” he said.
“This was a purposeful hateful act, as far as we know, by an individual acting alone.”
Haq, who lives in Pasco, 180 miles from Seattle, is being held in King County Jail.
Kerlikowske said Haq walked into the Jewish Federation building shortly after 4 p.m. armed with a large caliber semi-automatic handgun.
He asked for the manager and then started shooting.
One woman was killed and five others wounded, police said.
The five victims were hospitalized; three of the women were wounded critically while the other two victims, including a 37-year-old who is 20 weeks pregnant, were in satisfactory condition.
The wounded ranged in age from 23 to 43. Although all were women, nothing indicated that women were targeted, Kerlikowske said.
Marla Meislin-Dietrich, a co-worker who was not in the building, said staff members recalled Haq as saying: “I am a Muslim American, angry at Israel,” according to The Associated Press. The AP quoted her as saying his shooting was described as random.
About 12 minutes after the shooting began, the man laid down his handgun and surrendered to SWAT officers, Kerlikowske said.
Kerlikowske said he believed the shooting was a hate crime, based on what Haq had said to a 911 operator and supervisor. Kerlikowske declined to divulge further details.
“We are also protecting mosques, because there is always the concern of retaliatory crime or retaliatory incident,” Kerlikowske said.
Assistant Police Chief Nick Metz said police had no specific information about any threats, but his department had issued an alert on Thursday “reminding officers to be vigilant to monitor synagogues and mosques in the city.”
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/29/seattle.shooting/index.html
this is extermly sad… what do u guys think about this?
