Daily Southtown (Sunday)

11 die in attack on Pa. synagogue

AG: Suspect held, to face hate charges and death penalty

- By Matt Pearce and David G. Savage

Aman burst into a synagogue in Pittsburgh and opened fire on Saturday morning services that included a baby-naming ceremony, killing 11 people andwoundin­g six more, authoritie­s said.

PITTSBURGH — A man with a history of making anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant social media posts burst into a synagogue in Pittsburgh and opened fire on Saturday morning services that included a babynaming ceremony, killing 11 people and wounding six more, authoritie­s said.

The shooting, which began shortly before 10 a.m. EDT, was probably “the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the United States” and is a worrying new peak in violence against Jewish Americans in recent years, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which has monitored anti-Semitism in the U.S. for more than a century.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said federal prosecutor­s, who are investigat­ing the killings as a hate crime, could seek the death penalty against the suspected shooter, who was in custody.

The shooting unfolded over 20minutes at the Tree of Life Congregati­on in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborho­od.

The gunman was armed with an assault rifle and three handguns, officials said. He yelled, “All Jews must die!” as hewalked into the synagogue, police told local television reporters.

The suspected gunman, identified asRobertBo­wers, 46, of Pittsburgh, wounded two of the first officers who arrived at the scene as he tried to leave and later wounded two more SWAT officers inside the synagogue before he was shot and taken into custody, officials said.

Watching officers run into the danger “and remove people and get them to safety was unbelievab­le,” Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert said at a news conference.

“Without their courage, this tragedy would have been far worse,” said Wendell Hissrich, Allegheny County public safety director. None of the dead were children. Officials said two of the wounded were in critical condition.

The suspect remained hospitaliz­ed Saturday afternoon.

“The Department of Justice will file hate crimes and other criminal charges against the defendant, including charges that could lead to the death penalty,” Sessions said in a statement Saturday afternoon.

Bob Jones, the FBI special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh office, called the shooting “the most horrific crime scene I’ve seen in 22 years with the Federal Bureau of Investigat­ion.”

“Members of the Tree of Life synagogue conducting a peaceful service in their place of worshipwer­e brutally murdered by a gunman targeting them simply because of their faith,” he said.

Because the shooting is being treated as a hate crime, the FBI quickly took charge of the investigat­ion, coordinati­ng with local lawenforce­ment, authoritie­s said.

Bowers probably acted alone and had no known criminal record, Jones said.

A social media user under Bowers’ name had called Jews “the children of satan” and made posts before the attack alluding to neo- Nazi ideology and threatenin­gHIAS, a refugee agency originally founded to assist Jews.

Law enforcemen­t officials familiar with the case confirmed that they believe the posts were made by the shooting suspect.

“HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people,” said a postmadeat 9:49 a.m. Saturday — just five minutes before police received the first 911 call from the synagogue.

“I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtere­d. Screw your optics, I’m going in.”

The post was made on Gab, a small social media service that is popular with white nationalis­ts and other far-right users.

The reference to “optics” is a significan­t one among the small world of white nationalis­ts and signals that the suspect had a familiarit­y with the political dynamics of the American white-nationalis­t movement. It alludes to debate among farright figures over whether to avoid violence or aggression, which often draws negative attention to the movement from the general public.

MarkHetfie­ld, chief executive of HIAS, said he was “in a state of shock” to hear that his organizati­on was named by the shooter.

“It’s horrible,” Hetfield said. The refugee resettleme­nt group organized a “refugee Shabbat” event last week at which more than 300 synagogues across the country came together to “celebrate our tradition of welcoming refugees.” He said it was unclear if the Pittsburgh synagogue participat­ed.

President Donald Trump called for armed guards at synagogues and implied that lax security by the synagogue was at least partially to blame for the high death toll.

“If they had protection inside, the results would have been far better,” he said. “If there was an armed guard inside the temple, they would have been able to stop him, maybe there would have been nobody killed, except for him, frankly.”

 ?? MATT ROURKE/AP ?? People hold candles as they gather for a vigil in the aftermath of a deadly shooting at the Tree of Life Congregati­on.
MATT ROURKE/AP People hold candles as they gather for a vigil in the aftermath of a deadly shooting at the Tree of Life Congregati­on.
 ??  ?? Bowers
Bowers

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