After going on a shooting rampage that left a trail of victims on the Pacific resort island of Saipan, the gunman drove to a scenic, rocky cliff where untold numbers of Japanese men, women and children had plunged to their deaths to avoid capture during World War II, according to police and witness accounts.
He parked his van and walked to edge of Banzai Cliff. But instead of jumping, the gunman shot himself — ending his life and the carnage. In total, five people were dead, including the gunman and two small children, and six were wounded, including five South Korean tourists, in Saipan’s most violent attack in recent memory, leaving the usually tranquil island reeling and shaken.
“The commonwealth has never experienced a tragic situation like this, and we are saddened by the appalling action of a single individual that has caused so much harm to our peaceful island community,” Northern Mariana Islands Governor Benigno Fitial said.
Saipan is the main island of the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, which has about 60,000 residents and is about 6,100km southwest of Hawaii. Saipan is a popular tourist destination among South Koreans, with more than 111,000 South Koreans visiting the island last year, according to the Marianas Visitors Authority.
Saipan officials feared the violence would lead to a drop in tourism, which has already suffered because of the sagging global economy.
“The security we take for granted in our island homes has been broken by this senseless act of violence,” Saipan Congressman Gregorio Sablan said.
Residents, meanwhile, were stunned. Retired teacher Gary Curly, a Saipan resident of 21 years, said it was probably the deadliest day since World War II.
“I am shocked,” he said. “I’d like to know what triggered the shooter to snap. I’d like to know more info.”
Besides the gunman, the violence claimed the lives of two men, a four-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl, all residents of the US commonwealth, Public Safety spokesman Jason Tarkong said.
Six people were injured: a four-year-old local girl and five South Korean tourists, including a boy and a girl.
SHOOTING RANGE
Police said the attack began on Friday at a shooting range in the community of Kannat Tabla, where two men in their early 20s and the two children were fatally shot.
The four-year-old girl was critically injured with a gunshot wound to the chest, but released from intensive care yesterday. Family members said the girl’s father and young sister were among the dead.
Shortly after the first attack, the suspect drove several kilometers and began firing a rifle from a white van at a group of South Koreans visiting a World War II attraction in nearby Marpi, wounding five. Police do not believe the shooter was targeting tourists in what Tarkong termed the random drive-by shooting.
Roxanne Diaz told the Pacific Daily News about 60 people were in the area taking photos, “just like a regular tourist day.”
“And next thing you know, they hear something that sounded like fireworks,” followed by the bloody chaos, Diaz said.
Authorities said the suspected shooter was a contract worker in his 30s or 40s from China. His name was withheld pending notification of family. Several residents said the man was known as “Mr Lee.”
The Pacific News Center identified him as Lee Zhong Ren, an employee at the shooting range. The news station also reported that Lee left behind a suicide note that spoke of a business deal gone bad.
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