Skip to main content

World At least one dead, three wounded in synagogue shooting near San Diego

People hug next to police tape across the street from the Chabad of Poway Synagogue after a shooting on April 27, 2019 in Poway, California.

SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images

A teenage gunman opened fire inside a Southern California synagogue Saturday, killing one person and injuring at least three others in an attack during one of the most important Jewish holidays and on the six-month anniversary of a mass shooting at synagogue in Pittsburgh.

San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore told reporters a 19-year-old white man from San Diego opened fire with an “AR-style” rifle around 11:30 a.m. local time at the Chabad of Poway, an Orthodox synagogue in Poway, Calif., 40 kilometres northeast of San Diego. An elderly woman was killed, while two men and a girl were in stable condition at a nearby hospital.

Police declined to name the suspect or discuss a possible motive during a Saturday afternoon press conference. But the Federal Bureau of Investigation had been called in to help and investigators said they were reviewing the man’s social media posts as well as what law enforcement officials described as an “open letter” the suspect allegedly wrote.

Story continues below advertisement

Nearly 100 people were attending the synagogue to celebrate the final day of Passover, an eight-day holiday that commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. The shooting also came exactly six months to the day after a man shouting anti-Semitic epithets opened fire during services at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, killing 11 people.

Speaking to reporters on the lawn of the White House after a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, President Donald Trump said the attack “looks like a hate crime” and called it “hard to believe.”

“We’re doing some very heavy research,” Mr. Trump said before heading to a rally in Wisconsin. “We’ll see what happens, what comes up,” he said. “At this moment it looks like a hate crime but my deepest sympathies to all those affected, and we’ll get to the bottom of it.”

Poway Mayor Steve Vaus told CNN the gunman was “someone with hate in their heart” and believed the attack was a hate crime because of statements the shooter made when he entered the synagogue. “This is not Poway,” he later told reporters, describing the city of about 50,000 as a close-knit interfaith community. “We always walk with our arms around each other, and we will walk through this tragedy with our arms around each other.”

Police said the gunman began shooting inside the synagogue around 11:30 a.m. local time. An armed off-duty border patrol agent who was in the synagogue shot back at the gunman as he fled, missing the suspect and hitting some parked cars.

The gunman then called the California Highway Patrol to report he had been involved in the shooting and gave police his location, San Diego police chief David Nisleit said. A San Diego police officer stopped the man’s vehicle down the street from the synagogue and the suspect turned himself in.

Several media outlets reported that the synagogue’s rabbi was shot in the hand but continued to help members of his congregation and the suspect, though police declined to confirm those accounts.

Several Democratic lawmakers reacted to the shooting by urging a crackdown on gun violence and hate crimes. “We must work every day to eradicate all forms of hatred and bigotry and take serious action to protect Americans from gun violence,” Presidential candidate Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders wrote on Twitter.

Report an error Editorial code of conduct
Due to technical reasons, we have temporarily removed commenting from our articles. We hope to have this fixed soon. Thank you for your patience. If you are looking to give feedback on our new site, please send it along to feedback@globeandmail.com. If you want to write a letter to the editor, please forward to letters@globeandmail.com.

Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff. Non-subscribers can read and sort comments but will not be able to engage with them in any way. Click here to subscribe.

If you would like to write a letter to the editor, please forward it to letters@globeandmail.com. Readers can also interact with The Globe on Facebook and Twitter .

Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff. Non-subscribers can read and sort comments but will not be able to engage with them in any way. Click here to subscribe.

If you would like to write a letter to the editor, please forward it to letters@globeandmail.com. Readers can also interact with The Globe on Facebook and Twitter .

Discussion loading ...

Cannabis pro newsletter