One killed and rabbi injured in latest US synagogue shooting
A gunman opened fire inside a synagogue near San Diego as worshippers celebrated the last day of Passover, a major Jewish holiday, killing a woman and wounding the rabbi and two others.
John T Earnest, 19, surrendered to police after bursting into Chabad of Poway, north of San Diego, on Saturday and opening fire with about 100 people inside, killing Lori Kayne, 60, and injuring Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, Noya Dahan, eight, and Almog Peretz, 34, authorities said.
Earnest may be charged with a hate crime in addition to homicide, San Diego County Sheriff william gore said. he is also being investigated in connectionwith an arson attack on a mosque in nearby es con dido, California, on 24 March.
“Any time somebody goes into a house of worship and shoots the congregants, in my book, that’s a hate crime,” Poway Mayor Steve Vaus said.
President Donald Trump and other elected officials decried the attack which comes exactly six months since 11 people were killed at a Pittsburgh synagogue in the deadliest assault on Jews in US history.
The gunman used an Artype assault weapon, Sheriff Gore said. There were indications the gun might have malfunctioned after firing numerous rounds inside the synagogue.
Shortly after fleeing, Earnest called police to report the shooting, San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit said. When an officer reached him, “the suspect pulled over, jumped out of his car with his hands up and was immediately taken into custody,” Mr Nisleit said.
Earnest has no criminal record, but investigators were looking into a claim he made in an online manifesto about setting a fire at a mosque in nearby Escondido last month, Mr Gore said. There was damage but no injuries.
Donny Phonea, 38, who lives across the street from the synagogue, heard three or four shots. The bank auditor said he looked over his fence facing the synagogue and saw people hiding behind an electrical box in the car parkof a neighboring church. At that point, he knew something was “very, very wrong”.
“I’m a little taken aback,” said Mr Phonea. “I moved here because safety was a factor. Poway is very safe.”
Minoo Anvari, a member of the synagogue, said that her husband was inside during the shooting. She said he called to tell her the shooter was shouting and cursing.
She called the shooting “unbelievable” in a peaceful and tight-knit community.
“We are strong; you can’t break us,” Ms Anvari said.
Mr Trump offered his sympathies, saying the shooting “looked like a hate crime” and calling it “hard to believe”. “Our entire nation mourns the loss of life, prays for the wounded and stands in solidarity with the Jewish community,” Mr Trump said later at a rally in Wisconsin.
“We forcefully condemn the evils of antisemitism and hate, which must be defeated.”
Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom said he joins the community in grief.
“No-one should have to fear going to their place of worship, and no one should be targeted for practising the tenets of their faith,” he said.
Residents of Pittsburgh gathered at the Tree of Life synagogue for a vigil in the wake of the shooting.
Pittsburgh mayor Bill Peduto tweeted a picture, saying: “We gather. Again. Always. Until we drive hate speech & acts of hate out of our city, our state, our nation, our world.”
The Tree of Life synagogue also released a statement,in which it said: “Our hearts are with the afflicted San Diego families.”