Chaplain hurt in synagogue shooting moved to rehab

Daniel Leger, the 70-year-old chaplain shot in the Tree of Life synagogue massacre Oct. 27, has been moved into a UPMC inpatient rehabilitation unit, the Pittsburgh-based health care system reported Friday.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh police Officer Timothy Matson, 40, remained in stable condition, UPMC said in a statement. He was shot multiple times while confronting the shooter at the synagogue in Squirrel Hill, where 11 worshippers died.

Three other responding officers — Daniel Mead, Michael Smidga and Anthony Burke — and congregant Andrea Wedner also were

injured by gunfire and were released earlier from hospital care. In addition, Officer Tyler Pashel injured his knee, and Officer John Persin had a hearing issue due to the incident.

Both Officer Matson and Mr. Leger, of Squirrel Hill, were taken to UPMC Presbyterian in Oakland with critical injuries immediately after the massacre. Neither man was granting media interviews Friday, UPMC said.

A veteran Pittsburgh police officer, Officer Matson joined the department in 2005 and has been part of the city’s SWAT team since 2016.

Mr. Leger, who is a nurse and UPMC chaplain, took a bullet to the torso, a UPMC doctor has said. He had been scheduled to lead a Saturday service at Tree of Life when the gunfire broke out, according to Paul Leger, his brother.

“In the words of the highschoolers from Florida, I say: Never again. Never again,” Paul Leger said Friday, referring to students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Seventeen people were killed there in a mass shooting in February.

Paul Leger made his remarks at a Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority meeting, where he is board chairman. He confirmed his brother’s condition is improving and thanked those who have supported the family.

“With the move to rehabilitation, my brother advances to the next phase of a long recovery from the Tree of Life assault,” Paul Leger said in a statement later. “All of us in his family feel profound gratitude to the public safety teams and the wonderful Presby staff who saved my brother’s life.

“We also want to recognize the Pittsburgh community, which stands with us to support and send affection to Dan and the family,” he said.

In an interview last week, Mayor Bill Peduto said he saw Daniel Leger and Officer Matson at Presby on Nov. 8. Both survivors flashed smiles, the mayor said, and letters from children filled the walls of Officer Matson’s hospital room.

“The last time I visited [beforehand], he wasn’t having visitors, and he was fighting to be able to survive,” Mr. Peduto said. By the Nov. 8 visit, Officer Matson’s spirits had improved as he awaited the start of rehabilitation, the mayor said.

Mr. Leger was walking nearby with a walker, the mayor recalled. He had created his own physical therapy regimen with a shortterm goal: to gather enough strength to walk from his room to Officer Matson’s, Mr. Peduto said.

“That’s Pittsburgh,” the mayor added.

Robert Bowers, 46, of Baldwin Borough, is charged with 44 federal counts in the Tree of Life massacre, which authorities have designated a hate crime. He faces 36 counts in state court.