Updated 5:15 PM
NEW YORK CITY (AP) -- President Barack Obama says he is shocked and saddened by the deadly mass shooting in Binghamton.
Authorities say a gunman opened fire at an immigration services center there on Friday, killing at least 13 people before he turned the gun on himself.
Obama called it an "act of senseless violence."
The president, who is traveling in Europe, says he and his wife, Michelle, are praying for the victims, their families and the people of Binghamton.
The administration is monitoring the situation. Vice President Joe Biden also has been in touch with New York Gov. David Paterson and local officials to track developments.
With reports of as many as 13 dead, the vice president said, "We've got to figure out a way to deal with this terrible, terrible violence." He made his remarks at the beginning of a speech before the Rev. Al Sharpton's civil rights organization.
Biden asked the gathering at the National Action Network convention to keep the victims in their prayers. Biden was invited to speak about education equality, voter rights and the economy.
Today's mass shooting in Binghamton occurred in a neighborhood of small businesses, college student apartment houses and private homes.
The gunfire erupted this morning inside the building that houses the American Civic Association, an organization that helps immigrants in the Binghamton area with naturalization applications.
The association describes itself as helping immigrants and refugees with counseling, resettlement, citizenship, family reunification and translators.
Next door to the building is a house where nine Binghamton University students live. Three of them had left for spring break and six others were inside when the shooting started.
SUNY-Binghamton senior Leslie Shrager of the Albany area says no one inside the house was aware of the shooting until police officers woke them up and evacuated everyone.
Binghamton, a Southern Tier city of about 47,000, was once home to such national companies as Endicott-Johnson and IBM, but has seen tens of thousands of jobs leave the area over the past few decades.
(Copyright ©2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
