Police update injury list in Saipan shooting
Updated
Five people are dead, including the gunman, after a shooting rampage on the island of Saipan in the Northern Marianas on Friday. The gunman, reportedly a former employee from a local shooting range, shot four people dead before turning the gun on himself.
Several people are said to have been wounded, including children, and the gunman seems to have at one stage gone after holidaymakers, firing at and injuring several South Korean tourists.
Presenter: Geraldine Coutts
Speaker: Gemma Cassas, our reporter in the Northern Marianas
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CASAS: The police department had revised earlier data about the number of wounded. Now it's saying that there are actually eight Koreans who were wounded from the incident, and after that the one-year-old girl which survived the attack, that makes it nine people wounded from the incident. But the number of fatalities remains at five, including the shooter himself.
COUTTS: So can you just describe the circumstances of what actually happened around the time of the shooting and his death?
CASAS: Investigators believe he shot first those four people, including the two children at a shooting range where he works. And then he proceeded to the last command post where he opened fire at a group of about 60 Korean tourists, and the police said eight of them were wounded, but five were seriously injured, and one of them, a 39-year old male was even airlifted to Seoul, South Korea for further medical treatment. From the last command post he proceeded to the area near the Banzai Cliff and shot himself on his chin.
COUTTS: What do we know about the motives and the reasons for the shootings? I understand that detectives have found several notes left behind by the shooter.
CASAS: That's correct. The police claim that there were several notes. I don't know if they were written in English or Chinese, that supposedly would lead them to the motives of the killer. The killer worked for the Kannat Tabla Shooting Range as a caretaker and the families of the victims are questioning how he could possibly have access to an arsenal of guns and the ammunition.
COUTTS: So the shooter himself had an arsenal of weapons you're saying?
CASAS: Yes, the police found three more firearms inside the van which he used to travel the Kannat Tabla Shooting Range to the historical site where he opened fire on the Korean tourists.
COUTTS: Is he a resident of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas?
CASAS: This person is a citizen of China. He works here as a contract worker. He takes care of the shooting range, that's his job.
COUTTS: No doubt this has caused a great deal of shock throughout the community and I understand a candlelit vigil has been held for the victims of the shooting?
CASAS: That's true. A large number of the community went to the candlelight vigil Sunday night to offer prayers for the victims.
