Reported by Donald Sbarra, Special to NYSSA

Shocking first reports

When the first reports arrived about multiple shootings and possibly hostages being held at the American Civic Association in Binghamton, Broome County Sheriff David Harder's first impulse was to get there as fast as he could.

While the scene wasn't primarily his jurisdiction, his 45 years of experience told him the Binghamton City Police Department - and a 14-year Binghamton patrolman named Charles Harder - could use all the help they could get.

He was right.

A sad day in Broome County history

The day was April 3, the time approximately 10:33 a.m. What police swarming the scene had yet to learn was that 13 people had been murdered and four others seriously wounded by a distraught and mentally unstable man wielding a pair of semi-automatic handguns while clad in a bullet-proof vest and packing dozens of rounds of ammunition. Forty-one-year-old Jiverly A. Wong would eventually take his own life, but not before making Binghamton the scene of one of the worst mass murders in U.S. history.

"I've seen a lot of terrible things, a lot of death, but nothing like that," Sheriff Harder said, looking back on that morning. "Your first thoughts always go out to the families. You're standing there looking at this incredible scene thinking, ‘Oh my God. All those families.' Somebody has to notify those families. I've done a lot of notifications over the years. It's never an easy thing to do."

Compounding the anxiety felt by Sheriff Harder was the fact that his son, Charles "Chuck" Harder, was already on the scene as Assistant Team Leader of the Binghamton Police Department SWAT team. The younger Harder was among the first to enter the building before it was known whether the gunman was holding hostages or lying in wait. The SWAT team's job was to first remove the wounded and then assess the situation for hostage potential. It would be several tense hours before it was certain that Wong was dead and had been acting alone.

"As a dad, you're worrying about what's going on in there," the Sheriff said, recalling his thoughts during those early moments after the SWAT unit entered the building. "I thought about his mother, and how she would be worrying....We didn't know how many shooters were involved, whether they had taken hostages, whether they would come out without a fight. But Chuck is a dedicated officer, loves what he does, works hard at it, never misses a training. I knew he was as ready as any man could be. That they'd sent the right guy in there." At the conclusion of the operation, SWAT Team Leader Sgt. Daniel Frair had high praise for all his team members.

A madman takes aim

Wong had been a sporadic visitor to the Civic Association, attending classes to improve his English language skills, a source of frustration that he frequently expressed to friends and acquaintances. He had also recently lost his job when a local Shop Vac plant closed in November.

Sheriff's Command Vehicle at the site of the shootings.

On April 3 he paid one last visit to the association, this time using a borrowed 1993 Toyota to barricade the rear entrance and then entering the front with guns drawn. Survivors say there was no conversation. Wong just opened fire. His first shots were aimed at receptionist Shirley DeLucia, who, though wounded in the abdomen, had the presence of mind to feign death and from beneath her desk call police and provide critical information from inside the building.

Besides DeLucia and one other woman killed near the lobby, all of Wong's victims were in a single classroom where English was being taught. Wong fired a combined 98 shots from his legally registered 9 mm Beretta and .45-caliber Springfield...all within the span of a single minute. The last he fired at himself. Many of the victims were recent immigrants attending classes in English and citizenship. Escaping Wong's rage were 33 others who managed to either hide in an adjoining room or barricade themselves in the basement.

An all-out effort

Meanwhile, outside the civic association building police from all around Broome County (and the state) were amassing to secure and contain the scene and to isolate and control an ever-growing crowd of nervous bystanders. It would be three harrowing hours before they could confirm the tragic events that had transpired inside.

Almost simultaneous with city police, Sheriff Harder and his deputies arrived on the scene and began assignments critical to protecting the lives of those who remained inside the structure as well as hundreds in the surrounding community unaware of the potential danger. A nearby school had to be locked down. Streets all around the center had to be barricaded to allow adequate movement by police officers, emergency medical personnel, city leaders and many others. Traffic had to be rerouted. Curiosity seekers had to be kept at bay.

In short order, Sheriff's deputies, more than 50 officers in all, had been dispatched across the city. Detectives were assisting with interviews of witnesses and neighbors. Deputies were sent to area hospitals to help as administrators there made plans for the worst scenario. Others were assigned to handle the everyday calls that the Binghamton PD would normally cover. It was an all-out effort to back-up and support whatever need might arise.

"My first priority was to do whatever the (Binghamton Police) Chief needed, help in any way we could. He had an awesome responsibility and we were there to help him," Harder said.

As Binghamton Police Chief Joseph Zikuski would note during a press conference later that day, Broome County Sheriff Deputies didn't wait to be asked to back up their brothers at the city PD, they just responded... in force.

Looking to the future

The aftermath was at first a continuing stream of sadness and disbelief for residents of this mostly rural community. Up until that day, Binghamton had just one murder since the beginning of 2008, a fact that offered little comfort after April 3. A community was stunned.

With each day there came news of another victims' funeral, another memorial, another story about a family's struggle to makes sense of the senseless. The outpouring of support was swift and widespread, both for the families of the victims and for the Civic Association itself, which administrator vow to soon reopen. But with each day's passing there are also signs of a return to normalcy. People begin to move on. It will be a long time before they forget.