Five tourists shot dead on the remote Pacific island

[Pastor Dale Morgan]

*Perilous Times

Five tourists shot dead on the remote Pacific island *

Rescue team carrying a victim of a shooting incident in Saipan on
November 20, 2009

Many people were injured, in addition to the five dead

At least five people have died in a shooting incident on the Pacific
island of Saipan.

Eight were wounded in the incident, including a group of South Korean
tourists. The gunman was among the dead.

Saipan is part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
which is administered by the US.

The islands have a population of 90,000, and lie between Hawaii and the
Philippines.

Their economy relies largely on tourism.

'Isolated case'

Saipan's Deputy Governor Eloy Inos told reporters that the shootings
were "an unfortunate but isolated case", and the gunman's motive was not
clear.


"We want to assure the community and our tourists that the commonwealth
is still a good place to visit," he said.

The unnamed Asian gunman began by killing four people - including two
children under the age of four - at a shooting range. He badly injured
several other people.

He is then reported to have driven to Last Command Post Park, a popular
tourist destination and the final base of Japan's military commanders
during the advance of US troops during World War II.

There he shot several other people - most of whom were South Korean
tourists - but none is reported to have died.

He then drove to the Banzai Cliffs on the northern tip of the island,
where he shot himself dead, according to police.