Gunman kills 14 in NY massacre

A gunman massacred 14 people yesterday at an immigration centre in upstate New York before taking at some 40 hostages, then apparently turning the gun on himself.

New York Governor David Paterson, speaking in a live television broadcast, said the shooter "killed 14 people. This is a horrible situation".

US President Barack Obama expressed shock and sadness over yesterday's shooting deaths of 14 people at an immigration centre in New York state, adding he was following the case closely.

The gunman, who also took about 40 hostages at the civic centre in the sleepy city of Binghamton, later killed himself, CNN reported, citing unnamed sources.

The tragedy began mid-morning when the gunman entered the American Civic Association building in Binghamton, 217 kilometres northwest of New York city.

After opening fire the gunman holed himself up with hostages in the centre, where help is given to new immigrants and would-be US citizens. Heavily armed police, backed by commandos and FBI agents, swarmed into the area and surrounded the building.

By mid-afternoon, local News 10 Now television said the town police chief had confirmed: "The building is secure and everyone alive is out."

Two people were taken out of the building during the standoff with their hands secured behind their backs, local television and newspapers reported, but it was not clear whether these were suspects or had been detained as a precaution.

Initial reports suggested the shooter was a young man of Asian appearance and that the attack started during a gathering of immigrants at the civic association. This could not be confirmed.

CNN reported the gunman was a 42-year-old male from upstate New York.

During the standoff, TV footage showed police officers carrying out several stretchers, including one on which the victim was clearly still moving. Crowds of anxious people gathered in the area, watching.

The Binghamton General Hospital said in a statement three people had been brought in for treatment, and its trauma centre was on alert with extra staff drafted in to help.

The local Press and Sun-Bulletin newspaper reported that 41 hostages were in the building - 15 in a closet and 26 in the boiler room.

According to Bob Joseph, news director of local WNBF Radio in the town of Binghamton, the gunman was believed to have parked a car so that it blocked the back door of the civic centre, preventing escape.

Yesterday's carnage in New York state is the latest to rock small-town America, where many fiercely defend the legal right to bear powerful firearms.

On Sunday a heavily-armed man burst into a North Carolina nursing home killing eight people before being shot and wounded by a policeman.

Earlier this month, a 28-year-old unemployed man killed 10 people, including his mother and a toddler, in a shooting rampage through two counties in Alabama, the worst in the southern state's history.

In December, a man dressed as Santa Claus opened fire at a Christmas party being given by his ex-wife in Covina, California, killing nine people before shooting himself.

In October, an ex-convict opened fire with an assault rifle at a man and two children who had come to trick-or-treat at his home in Sumter, South Carolina on Halloween. A 12-year-old boy died of his wounds in that incident.

And in September, a mentally ill man shot eight people, killing six, in Alger, Washington a month after being released from prison.

Yesterday's incident comes days before the second anniversary of a massacre at Virginia Tech and weeks before the 10th anniversary of the Columbine, Colorado school shooting.