Binghamton police say no reason to doubt letter was gunman's (with photo gallery)

PHOTOGRAPHER: The Associated Press

Police today said they have no reason to doubt that a letter mailed to a TV station forecasting last week’s mass shooting at an immigrant center was written by the gunman.

The letter received by Syracuse TV station News 10 Now is still being analyzed, but police believe it was written by 41-year-old Jiverly Wong, police chief Joseph Zikuski said at a briefing.

“We have no reason to believe it’s not [authentic],” Zikuski said.

Zikuski said it was one more piece of evidence in a “very complex puzzle.”

In the rambling, disjointed letter mailed the day he gunned down 13 people before killing himself, Wong blamed his troubles on the police and vowed to take at least two people “to return to the dust of earth.” He ended the letter, neatly written in capital letters, on a chilling note: “And you have a nice day.”

The package was dated March 18, more than two weeks before the shooting. It included photos of Wong smiling with two guns, a gun permit and his driver’s license. The envelope carried three stamps: two Purple Hearts and a Liberty Bell.

Zikuski said police are trying to determine if photos included with the letter were taken at a local shooting range. He said police heard that Wong had asked others at the range to take pictures of him.

Zikuski declined to discuss what police thought the letter says about the mental stability of gunman Jiverly Wong.

He said he will leave that assessment to FBI experts.

Police have speculated Wong, who was ethnically Chinese but was from Vietnam, was angry over losing a job and frustrated about his poor English skills.