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Deadly rampage ends in man shooting self

BINGHAMTON, N.Y., April 3 (UPI) -- Thirteen people, including the gunman, were confirmed dead Friday in a shooting spree at an immigration services center in New York state, news reports said.

Another 26 people were wounded in the rampage at the American Civic Association facility in Binghamton, N.Y., about 150 miles northwest of New York City, ABC News and WBNG-TV in Binghamton reported.

The gunman, identified as Jiverly Voong, 41, also known as Linh Phat Voong, of Johnson City, N.Y., held dozens of people hostage for several hours before killing himself, police said. Officials from state and local law enforcement agencies said the shooter entered the building through the front entrance about 10 a.m. and opened fire. The occupation ended around 2:40 p.m.

New York Gov. David Paterson called the assault "a brutal attack of innocent people."

"This is a tragic day for New York. I speak for all of New York when I offer my prayers for the victims and families of this tragedy," Paterson said.

Voong's body was found on first floor of the facility and two weapons were recovered, officials said. He apparently used a vehicle to barricade the building's back door.

"We've got to figure a way to deal with this senseless, senseless violence," U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said during a speaking engagement in New York.

Police entering the building immediately saw a receptionist who was shot in the head, officials told ABC News.

Televised images showed emergency services personnel removing people on stretchers and others walking out.

A lockdown of a nearby high school and nursing home were lifted.

Obama: U.S. hit hard by global recession

WASHINGTON, April 3 (UPI) -- The global economic crisis is hitting the United States dramatically, U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday during a news conference in Germany.

The U.S. unemployment rate hit 8.5 percent in March, a 0.4 percentage-point rise on the loss of 663,000 jobs in a month, statistics released by the Labor Department indicated. Since the recession set in in December 2007, the nation has lost 5.1 million jobs, the report said.

"Over the last several days, what we've been grappling with is an economic crisis that is unlike anything we've seen since the '30s," Obama said during a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at Baden-Baden, Germany. "(Obviously), this is hitting the United States hard ..."

As of March, 13.2 million Americans were listed as unemployed, a 5.3 million increase over the past 12 months.

"The Labor Department continues to actively support workers during this difficult time," Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said. "We have provided billions of dollars to increase the level of unemployment benefits and extend their duration."

Solis said the department also provided states with $7 billion in incentives to expand the reach of unemployment insurance and distributed $4 billion to increase the opportunities for worker training."

Dozens of homes destroyed by wildfires

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, April 3 (UPI) -- Wildfires in the Corpus Christi, Texas, area, driven by strong winds, destroyed more than three dozen homes, authorities say.

Live Oak County Sheriff's Office officials said the wildfires outside the Texas city Thursday also destroyed dozens of sheds and vehicles, while causing an unspecified number of injuries, KGBT-TV of Harlingen, Texas, reported Friday.

The primary wildlife was contained thanks to several bulldozers that were used to create fire breaks. Firefighting vehicles from the Texas Forestry Service as well as nearby communities were brought in to help fight the blazes.

While Thursday's fires appear to have been contained, AccuWeather.com said Friday that the high winds that helped spread the blazes has created a high fire danger for the area.

The weather Web site said the winds, which reached speeds of up to 50 mph Thursday, have created a high potential for additional blazes between West Texas to the Arizona deserts.

Demjanjuk to be deported during weekend

CLEVELAND, April 3 (UPI) -- The Cleveland-area man accused of helping to kill 29,000 people at a Nazi death camp in Poland will be deported to Germany this weekend, officials said.

John Demjanjuk, 89, is scheduled to leave Sunday and arrive in Germany Monday to face charges that he walked Jews from rail cars to the gas chambers at the Sobibor camp in Nazi-occupied Poland, The Plain Dealer newspaper in Cleveland reported Friday.

A doctor and a nurse will accompany him on the flight, said his Munich attorney, Guenther Maull. Demjanjuk's family said the retired autoworker is too ill to stand trial.

Demjanjuk is expected to meet with prosecutors about the charges when he arrives in Germany, then be hospitalized or jailed until the trial starts, possibly in six months, Maull told The Plain Dealer. The trial itself could last as long, depending on Demjanjuk's health, the lawyer said.

"Given his current medical condition, he will not endure the stress of what the Germans have planned," John Demjanjuk Jr. said via e-mail to The Plain Dealer.

Demjanjuk filed an emergency motion Thursday in U.S. Immigration Court in Arlington, Va., to stop the deportation, alleging it would amount to torture because of his age, deteriorating physical and mental health.

Filing an appeal doesn't halt the deportation, an immigration attorney in Cleveland said to the newspaper. An immigration judge or a U.S. District Court judge must rule to postpone the deportation.