Yesterday afternoon at 4:03 PM, the Seattle 911 center received a call reporting a shooting and possible hostage situation at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle administrative offices in downtown Seattle. A lone gunman, identified as Naveed Afzal Haq, an American citizen reportedly of Pakistani descent, forced his way into the offices, went up to the second floor and after stating that he was a Muslim-American and that he was upset by what was going on in Israel, opened fire with a large caliber handgun, killing one woman, and wounding five others, three of which were in critical condition Friday night. All the victims were taken to Harborview Medical Center, the regions Trauma One facility. The gunman surrendered to Seattle Police at approximately 4:15. Both the Seattle Police and the local FBI office has labeled this a hate crime, stating that they do not believe that the actions of the gunman are related to any terrorist activities.
After the initial 911 call came in, SPD officers rushed to the scene, and cordoned off several blocks of downtown Seattle as they attempted to assess the situation. Seattle Fire Department Medic One units also rushed to the scene, evacuating the victims quickly. As a result of this, a major portion of downtown Seattle came to a complete halt, stranding many commuters who were on their way home, including this writer (a minor inconvenience considering the situation - my bus route goes through downtown Seattle on the same street where the Jewish Federation building is located).
After I arrived home, I turned on the news to try to find out what had happened, and was shocked at the news that, as I was on my way home, making plans for the weekend, some deranged individual upset by what Israel was doing in Lebanon (but apparently not by what Hezbollah and Hamas were doing in Israel), decided that he would take it upon himself to "avenge the evil acts" of Israel by shooting six women (one of whom died on the scene) who work for a Jewish organization that works to improve the lives of many here in the greater Metropolitan area of Seattle. How "brave" and "righteous" of you to do that. As if your actions here in Seattle are going to affect by one iota, what is happening in the Middle East!
The immediate reaction by the various organizations representing the Muslim community here in Seattle was heartening. ""We categorically condemn this and any similar acts of violence," the Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a joint statement with the Ithna-Ashari Muslim Association of the Northwest, the Muslim Association of Puget Sound, the Islamic Educational Center of Seattle, American Muslims of Puget Sound and the Arab American Community Coalition.
""We pray for the safety and health of those injured and offer our heartfelt condolences to the family of the victims of this attack. ... We refuse to see the violence in the Middle East spill over to our cities and neighborhoods. We reject and categorically condemn any attacks against the Jewish community and stand in solidarity with the Jewish Federation in this tragedy.""
I want to add my prayers and condolences for the victims and their families in this tragedy as well, and I hope that no one takes it upon themselves to "avenge" this tragedy by attacking any individual or organization - and that includes the family of the man responsible for this heinous act.
As to the motive for this heinous act? Contrary to what the clueless "talking heads" at the local TV news stations were saying, that the motive was "not known", my brother Dither has addressed that bit of obviousness.
Edit: I am remiss in, and apologize for, not adding that all law enforcement and fire department personnel acted very professionally throughout this incident, and they deserve our praise for a job well done. Kudos to the Seattle Police Department, FBI, Seattle Fire Department, and the doctors and nurses at Harborview Medical Center.
Thank you all for the job that you did.
No comments:
Post a Comment