Law enforcement run with a person on a stretcher at the scene where multiple people were shot on Oct. He was able to escape through one of the side exit doors we had made sure was functioning," Eisenberg told the AP. "I spoke to a maintenance person who was in the building and heard the shots. The synagogue maintenance employees had recently checked all of the emergency exits and doors to make sure they were cleared and working. He said officials at the synagogue had not gotten any threats that he knew of prior to the shooting. NEWS Synagogue shooting suspect threatened Jewish groups, pushed conspiracies I am just waiting to see," Eisenberg said. I am sure I know all of the people, all of the fatalities. And someone yelled, 'Get out of here.' I realized it was a police officer along the side of the house. "I ran out of the house without changing and I saw the street blocked with police cars. Michael Eisenberg, the immediate past president of Tree of Life synagogue who lives about a block from the building, told the Associated Press that he was getting ready for services when he received a phone call from a member who works with Pittsburgh's Emergency Services, saying he had been notified through scanner and other communications that there was an active shooter at their synagogue. "Sobering that it's touched our community." "There's a lot of anti-Semitism out there and a lot of hate out there," Diamond said. Rabbi Chuck Diamond, a former spiritual leader of Tree of Life, told reporters that he never spoke to his congregation about what to do during a shooting, but it's something he thought about. It’s just shocking to come back to Squirrel Hill and see something like this.” “You know, everyone thinks about Israel in situations like this. "I just feel horrible for all those people inside,” Finkelstein said. Jeff Finkelstein, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh since 2004, told NBC News affiliate WPXI that he rushed to the area when he heard about the shooting. The Pittsburgh Department of Public Safety tweeted that the shooting would be prosecuted as a hate crime.Ĭongregants told MSNBC that a circumcision celebration, known as a bris, was taking place in the synagogue this morning. Hissrich said the FBI would be leading the investigation. Bowers reportedly said "All Jews must die" before opening fire in the synagogue. Social media accounts that appear to belong to Bowers contained posts with anti-Semitic messages and hate speech. He is also charged with 11 counts of obstruction of the exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death and other counts. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania Scott W. Jones said the crime scene was the most horrific he'd witnessed in his career with the FBI.īowers was charged Saturday night with 29 federal counts, including 11 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder, U.S. Hissrich said Bowers was shot multiple times. Yealy said one of the injured officers suffered grazing wounds. Two officers who were the first responders to the scene were struck, and two SWAT officers were struck inside the building, Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert said. Bowers then allegedly shot the officer and retreated back into the synagogue to hide from approaching SWAT officers, Jones said. The suspected gunman, Robert Bowers, 46, of nearby Baldwin, was armed with an assault rifle and three handguns, authorities said.Īfter entering the synagogue, Bowers allegedly opened fire and as he exited the building, a Pittsburgh police officer engaged him, according to Bob Jones, FBI special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh field office. It’s one of the worst that I've seen," Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said. Don Yealy, chairman of emergency medicine at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said a 70-year-old man and a 55-year-old officer were in critical condition. The attack at Tree of Life synagogue began sometime before 9:54 a.m., when police were called about an active shooter inside the house of worship in the city’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, which is considered to be a historic Jewish enclave and center for Jewish life in Pittsburgh.Īt least 11 adults were killed in the shooting, and six people were injured, including four police officers, officials said. A gunman opened fire at a Pittsburgh synagogue where Sabbath services were taking place Saturday morning, killing at least 11 people and wounding several police officers before he was taken into custody, officials said.
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