At least one worshipper was killed and three injured Saturday when a teen gunman with “hate in his heart” opened fire with an assault rifle in a San Diego-area synagogue hosting a celebration for the last night of Passover.
Law enforcement sources have named the suspect in the deadly shooting as 19-year-old John T. Earnest, according to NBC News.
The San Diego Sheriff’s Department was called to the Chabad of Poway synagogue just before 11:30 a.m. local time after reports of a shooting there. The attack came exactly six months to the day that 11 people were massacred at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh — the deadliest attack on Jews in US history.
“It was an extremely chaotic scene with people running everywhere when we got here,” San Diego Sheriff’s Sgt. Aaron Meleen told reporters.
A woman whose husband was inside the synagogue said her spouse told her “one guy came in and shot everybody and was cursing,” congregation member Minoo Anvari told CNN.
Earnest was arrested a short distance from the synagogue, when a San Diego police officer headed to the scene spotted a vehicle matching a description of the shooter’s, Fox 5 San Diego reported. He jumped out of the car and surrendered.
Meleen said authorities were “confident that there are no shooters that are outstanding.”
The Palomar Medical Center of Poway received the four patients, a hospital spokesperson said. Poway Mayor Steve Vaus said one of the victims, an adult female, “succumbed to their wounds.”
The other victims — two adult males and one young girl — were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries, officials said. All three were in stable condition.
The synagogue was targeted by “someone with hate in their heart … towards our Jewish community and that just will not stand,” Vaus said.
The mayor described the shooting as “hate crime,” citing statements Earnest reportedly made when he entered the synagogue, he told CNN.
Brave congregants stopped the gunman before he could shoot more.
“This shooter was engaged by people in the congregation, and those brave people certainly prevented this from being a much worse tragedy,” Vaus said.
The founder of the synagogue, Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, was shot and lost two fingers, the Daily Beast reported.
Goldstein did not leave his congregation until he was finished speaking to them — calming their fears and pledging resilience,” Anvari told CNN.
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Where are we safe?
Nowhere.
Which is one of many reasons that we need Moshiach now.
