Dear Visitor(s)

Take into consideration - What if there was no "FREEDOM"?
Then you see this Blog and are reminded that you would be
missing out on so many important things...Enjoy your stay and recommend to your friends to come and taste the "FREEDOM" Geminimay

An Eye For An Eye - Life Against Life - This Is The Message Which Needs To Be Sent Accross All Borders

30 July, 2006

Seattle shooter put gun to girl’s head to gain entry

The Seattle Times

SEATTLE — The gunman who forced his way into the offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle on Friday afternoon put a gun to the head of a 13-year-old girl to gain entry to the building, police said this afternoon.

The man, who described himself as a Muslim American angry with Israel, then opened fire with two handguns, killing one woman and wounding five others before surrendering to police.

The dead woman was identified Saturday morning as Pamela Waechter, 58.

At a news conference Saturday afternoon, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said the gunman was stopped on a minor traffic violation — he had been driving down a street exclusively used by buses, about a half-hour before the shooting. He said he did nothing to arouse the officer’s suspicions.

The man then presumably drove to the federation building, where he hid behind a plant in the lobby for a short time. Kerlikowske said he waited for someone to come in to gain access into the office. When a 13-year-old girl walked up, he put a gun to her head and forced her to take him inside.

“She could not have kept him out,” Kerlikowske said. “She was a hostage.” The man carried two semiautomatic handguns and extra ammunition into the federation’s offices, the chief said.

“Once inside, he immediately started firing at people.”

He rattled off anti-Israel slurs and commanded people not to dial 911. But shooting victim Dayna Klein, who is 17 weeks pregnant, ignored him.

Seconds after being shot in the arm, she crawled across the floor toward a phone and called for help.

Within minutes, police were at the building and the man put down his two semi-automatic handguns and surrendered.

Police identified the suspect as Naveed Afzal Haq, 30, who until recently had lived in Everett, Wash. A law-enforcement source said Haq apparently has a history of mental illness. Haq, described as a studious loner, was raised in southern Washington state, and his family has close ties to the local Muslim community center.

Muhammad Ullah, a close family friend and a senior member of a mosque founded in part by Haq’s father, described Haq as a quiet loner with few friends.

At a bail hearing Saturday afternoon, King County District Court Judge Barbara Linde set bail at $50 million and found probable cause that Haq could face one charge of first-degree murder and five charges of attempted murder.

The shooting came a day after the FBI had warned Jewish organizations nationwide to be on alert after Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon and al-Qaida’s second in command urged that the war raging in the Middle East be carried to the U.S. However, the law-enforcement source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there is no evidence that Haq was involved with any group.

“He said he hates Israel,” said the source, who is part of the Seattle Joint Terrorism Task Force, which was called in to help investigate the shootings.

David Gomez, the assistant special agent-in-charge of the Seattle FBI office, said there is “nothing to indicate he is part of a larger organization.”

“We believe he is a lone individual with antagonism toward this (Jewish) organization,” Gomez said.

The Associated Press contributed.