Woman killed, 3 wounded in hate crime shooting at synagogue on Passover

POWAY, California – A gunman entered a synagogue near San Diego, California on the last day of Passover on Saturday and opened fire on worshipers, killing one woman and injuring three others, including two men and a girl, according to the Poway Sheriff’s Department.

The attack occurred shortly before 11:30 a.m. in Poway, a suburb of about 50,000 residents, when the suspect walked into the synagogue and started shooting, Gore said.

The suspect, John Earnest, a 19-year-old white male, fled the scene after a border patrol officer who happened to be at the synagogue at the time managed to deter him, and the suspect was arrested shortly after when he pulled over and surrendered to police.

Police are currently investigating social media posts written by Earnest, including a manifesto full of antisemitic and racist tropes and claims that he had carried out an arson attack on a California mosque recently and had received funding from well-known Youtube celebrity Pewdiepie.

The attack comes exactly six months to the day after the shooting attack at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 11 worshippers were killed and six others were wounded in the attack there.

Earlier this week, a string of suicide bombings killed over 250 people in churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. A few weeks ago, a gunman attacked two mosques in New Zealand, killing 49 people and wounding over 40.

Poway Mayor Steve Vaus, speaking from a police command center, told CNN that one person was confirmed dead in an attack that he described as a “hate crime,” saying his assessment was based on statements uttered by the gunman when he entered the synagogue.

Speaking with reporters at the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump said, “My deepest sympathies go to the people that were affected.” He added that “it looks like a hate crime” and that authorities will “get to the bottom of it.”

San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore told reporters that four people were struck by gunfire and taken to Palomar Medical Center, where one of the victims, an “older woman,” died. The three other patients – “two adult males” and a “female juvenile” – were listed in stable condition, Gore said. The identities of the victims were not given.

A San Diego officer was en route to the shooting scene when he overheard a California Highway Patrol (CHP) radio dispatch “of a suspect who had called into CHP to report that he was just involved in this shooting and his location,” San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit recounted.

“The officer was actually on the freeway and he clearly saw the suspect in his vehicle. The suspect pulled over and jumped out of his car with his hands up and was immediately taken into custody,” Nisleit said.

He said the assault-style rifle believed to be the murder weapon was found on the front passenger seat of the car.

Local television channel KGTV 10News said the synagogue was hosting a holiday celebration beginning at 11 a.m. and due to culminate in a final Passover meal at 7 p.m. Authorities said about 100 people were inside the temple, where Saturday services marking the Jewish Sabbath would have been under way or have just concluded.

Minoo Anvari, an Iranian refugee who said her husband was attending services inside when gunshots rang out, told KUSI-TV the wounded included a female friend and the rabbi, who was shot in the hand. “We are united. You can’t break us. We are in the U.S.,” Anvari told KUSI.
 

Update#2 Those wounded in the Chabad of Poway #synagogueshooting were taken to Palomar Medical Center @PalomarHealth. Please respect the medical privacy of victims & their families during this difficult time. Remain clear of the area as this investigation will take several hours

— San Diego Sheriff (@SDSheriff) April 27, 2019

“The words, the demonstrators and the cartoons turn into shootings against worshipers in synagogues,” said Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, in response to the shooting attack and referring to an antisemitic cartoon published by The New York Times on Saturday.

“Antisemitism continues to raise its head and take victims. This is the time for action, for a determined war and not for weak and hollow condemnations that allow the forces of hate to revive dark periods in history.”

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