2 killed in attack outside synagogue

In Germany, gunman disrupts Yom Kippur

A “heavily armed” gunman, who used a helmet- mounted camera to livestream his assault, shouted anti- Semitic taunts as he tried to force his way into an eastern German synagogue Wednesday on Yom Kippur, then killed two people at random out front. Police arrested a suspect.

Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year.

The gunman shot the door of the synagogue in Halle where more than 70 people were huddled.

Just before firing, the gunman said in English, “The root of all problems are the Jews,” according to Rita Katz, director of the U. S.- based SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks jihadist and white supremacist organizations.

Katz said 35 minutes of head- mounted camera footage of the shooting was posted on a video game site.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, said authorities assume that the attack by the “heavily armed perpetrator” was anti- Semitic and prosecutors believe there may be a right- wing extremist motive. He said several people were injured.

The German news magazine Der Spiegel said the suspect is a 27- yearold, identified only as Stephan B., from the German state of Saxony- Anhalt, where Halle is located.

The magazine said the video shows the assailant shooting a passerby near a Jewish cemetery and a customer in a kebab bistro near the synagogue.

The head of Halle’s Jewish community, Max Privorotzki, told Der Spiegel that a camera at the entrance of the synagogue showed a person trying to break into the building.

“The assailant shot several times at the door and also threw several Molotov cocktails, firecrackers or grenades to force his way in,” he said. “But the door remained closed – God protected us. The whole thing lasted perhaps five to 10 minutes.”

FILIP SINGER/ EPA- EFE A man talks to police at a synagogue in Halle, Germany on Wenesday. Two people were shot and killed in front of the synagogue.