Officials defend response to massacre

? Even if police officers had immediately entered the immigrant center where a gunman had just shot down 13 people, the victims’ injuries were so severe that none would have survived, a county prosecutor said Sunday.

But police didn’t enter the American Civic Association until nearly 45 minutes after the first 911 calls came in at 10:30 a.m. Friday. They began removing the wounded about 15 minutes after that.

It took more than two hours to clear the building. Survivors reported huddling for hours in a basement, not knowing whether they were still in danger after the gunman, 41-year-old Jiverly Wong, killed 13 people.

Medical examiners who conducted autopsies reported that the victims’ injuries were so severe they would not have survived, Broome County District Attorney Gerald F. Mollen said.