Shooting suspect remains jailed in Las Vegas

Buford Furrow Jr. remained in custody within the walls of the FBI complex on Charleston Road Wednesday afternoon, as authorities pondered whether to pursue state or federal charges against the man accused of killing a postman and shooting four children and an adult at a Los Angeles area community center.

A federal charge for killing the postman could mean an appearance before a magistrate in Las Vegas and an immediate transfer back to Los Angeles. If Furrow is charged with the killings by the state of California, he may be able to fight extradition and delay his return, authorities said.

"He will go back to Los Angeles either way," Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. John Pasquariello said.

Pasquariello said a decision on the charges could be made this evening.

A press conference held just before 3 p.m. outside the building where Furrow is being held drew dozens of reporters, photographers and camera operators from Las Vegas, Los Angeles and nationwide news organizations.

"This is a high priority crime," Pasquariello told the horde of reporters who gathered under the blazing sun. "Obviously it has nationwide, worldwide significance."

Pasquariello and two LAPD homicide detectives arrived in Las Vegas by helicopter around 1 p.m. Wednesday. Although Furrow turned himself in at the FBI office in Las Vegas, the LAPD has been designated as the lead law enforcement agency.

Just after 8:30 a.m., Furrow arrived at the Las Vegas FBI office, took an elevator to the third floor and reportedly told a number of wide-eyed employees that he was the culprit who had "killed" several people at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles. Apparently, Furrow thought he had fatally wounded his victims.

"He was not armed when he turned himself in," Pasquariello said. LAPD officers recovered an Uzi and several other weapons they believe Furrow used in the shootings in a Toyota Corolla he allegedly stole after fleeing the scene.

Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks said Furrow took a cab from Los Angeles to the California-Nevada border where he caught a second cab to the Las Vegas FBI office. The cab fare was reportedly $800.

Also according to national reports, Furrow told FBI agents in Las Vegas today, "I'm the one that killed the kids, I'm the one you're looking for. This should be a wakeup call to America to kill Jews."

It is unclear why Furrow came to Las Vegas, although he does have ties to the city. Furrow attended ninth and 10th grades at Rancho High School in North Las Vegas between 1975 and 1977, a Clark County School District spokeswoman said.

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Reardon expressed relief at Furrow's arrest in a press conference Wednesday.

"We are all relieved that Buford Furrow is in custody," he said. "Our community can rest assured he will not bring any more harm to our children or innocent angelinos."

MSNBC domestic terrorism and hate group expert Dave Neiwert reported that Furrow apparently was trying to join an elite knighthood within the Aryan Nations.

The LA shooting was the third act of violence against Jews within the last six weeks, Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League said on MSNBC.

"Hatred is blinding, it's not rational," Foxman said. He fears that further copycat crimes will occur.

Anti-Semitic incidents in the 1960s and 1980s occurred around the world and they were copycats, he said.

Today the Internet provides a way for hate groups to communicate, recruit and show off to each other in a new way, Foxman said. "They used to meet in somebody's basement," he said. "It's a superhighway for the bigots."

The Anti-Defamation League website at adl.org provides summaries of the nation's leading hate groups to educate people of their dangers.

Jewish leaders throughout the Las Vegas Valley expressed relief that Furrow was captured -- but were not surprised that he came to Las Vegas.

"There is no question we are relieved, but I am not surprised his capture occurred here," said Ronni Epstein, executive director of the Jewish Federation in Las Vegas.

"I told my husband this morning that I had a strange feeling he would be coming this way. A number of people get the idea they can come here and get lost in a crowd."

She said if reports are true that Furrow has neo-Nazi ties, "it is of great concern to us that he was in Las Vegas."

Epstein said that she is in the process of setting up a meeting for Friday of local Jewish groups, Metro Police and the FBI to get a briefing on security.

"We take security measures at all of our facilities, but we can always learn more about what we can do that we are not already doing to make things safer," she said.

Epstein said that anti-Semitic crimes such as Tuesday's incident in Los Angeles and the bombings of Synagogues in Sacramento earlier this year are "frightening examples" of how hate groups make their impact on all Americans.

"As we go into the 21st century we are well aware that there are crazy people everywhere and these kind of things are going to happen. We cannot padlock our kids away, but we have to be diligent in taking measures to prevent incidents and educate people on tolerance."

Monty Willey, executive director of Congregation Ner Tamid, said: "It was "fortunate that he is in custody today without further violence."

Jason Skoboloff, community director for the local office of the Anti-Defamation League, echoed Epstein's sentiments.

"I was not surprised that he surrendered here -- Las Vegas often is a stopping point for members of hate groups en route to other locations," he said.

"We had clear indications at the outset that this was a hate crime -- the man walked into what was clearly marked a Jewish building. And the Aryan Nations (to which Furrow allegedly has ties) is one of the most violent hate groups in the country."

Skoboloff also noted that the internet has made it easy for hate groups to spread their literature cheaply and quickly and that it is easy for individuals and groups to acquire guns, especially assault weapons.

"There is no doubt about it that this is now a hate crime," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which maintains a database of white supremacists, has information that Furrow belonged to Aryan Nations in 1995, including a photo, said Mark Potok of the Montgomery, Ala.-based center.

"I have a picture of him, Furrow, in a Nazi outfit," Potok said today.

Furrow lived at times in Metaline Falls, Wash., once a haven for the supremacist group the Order, The Spokesman-Review reported in Spokane.

He served as a security guard at a white supremacist meeting in the 1990s and had a relationship with Debbie Mathews, widow of Order founder Robert J. Mathews, the paper said. Mathews was killed in 1984 when his hideout caught fire during a shootout with federal agents on Whidbey Island in Washington state.

The attacker strode into the community center's lobby and opened fire with a semiautomatic gun resembling an Uzi, peppering the building with some 70 shots. A center maintenance worker threw his body over an injured teen, while teachers and other workers led children to safety.

"There was nothing said by the suspect before the shooting," Police Chief Bernard Parks said. "It was indiscriminate."

The wounded include a 5-year-old boy who was hit in the abdomen and leg. He was in critical condition today after undergoing six hours of surgery and was given a fair chance of recovery.

Also hurt were center receptionist, 68-year-old Isabelle Shalometh, two 6-year-old boys and a 16-year-old girl who was a counselor at the center's summer camp that began Monday. The boys and the counselor were in stable condition today and Mrs. Shalometh, grazed on the arm and back as she dove for cover, was released from the hospital Tuesday night.

SUN REPORTERS Mary Manning, Kim Smith, Adrienne Packer, Ed Koch and Launce Rake contributed to this story.

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