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Pittsburgh synagogue shooting

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Pittsburgh synagogue shooting
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LocationTree of Life – Or L'Simcha, Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Coordinates40°26′37″N 79°55′17″W / 40.44361°N 79.92139°W / 40.44361; -79.92139
DateOctober 27, 2018 (2018-10-27)
10 a.m. (EDT)
TargetTree of Life – Or L'Simcha synagogue
Weapons
Deaths11
Injured6[6][7]
MotiveAntisemitism[8]
Charges29 federal criminal counts[1][9]

A mass shooting occurred at the Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 27, 2018.[10][11][12] Authorities reported 11 dead and six wounded, including four police officers.[13] A suspect, 46-year-old Robert G. Bowers,[14][15] was taken into custody[12][16] and charged with 29 federal criminal counts.[1][9]

The shooting occurred while Shabbat morning services and a bris were being held inside the building.[17][1][18] Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, issued a statement saying the organization believes it is "the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the United States".[19][20][21][7]

Background

The Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha synagogue describes itself as a "traditional, progressive and egalitarian congregation" located in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, one mile (1.6 km) east of Carnegie Mellon University and about five miles (8 km) east of downtown Pittsburgh.[22][17] The Squirrel Hill neighborhood is one of the largest predominantly Jewish neighborhoods in the United States and has historically been the center of Pittsburgh's Jewish community, with 26 percent of the city's Jewish population living in the area.[23][24] Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha is a Conservative Jewish synagogue. Tree of Life, founded in 1864 in downtown Pittsburgh, merged in 2010 with the recently-founded Or L'Simcha.[25] The modern synagogue building, located at the intersection of Wilkins Avenue and Shady Avenue in Squirrel Hill, was built in 1953;[26] it rents space to Dor Hadash, a Reconstructionist congregation, and New Light, another Conservative congregation.[27][28] The synagogue's main sanctuary has a capacity of 1,250 people.[29]

Incident

The suspect, described as a white male with a beard, entered the building and shouted, "All Jews must die!" before opening fire.[27] The shooting took place during three scheduled Shabbat morning services, one of which was reportedly a brit milah, a circumcision and naming ceremony for eight-day-old boys.[17][30] A member of the Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh told reporters that between 60 and 100 people were inside the building at the time of the incident.[31]

Police received calls from people barricaded in the building during the shooting.[32] At about 10:00 a.m. EDT (14:00 GMT), emergency services arrived at the synagogue.[33]

Victims

Eleven people were reported to have been killed.[13] It was reported that three people were killed on the ground level, four in the synagogue's basement, and at least one other person died in the building.[34] Four police officers were also shot.[32] The majority of the victims were transported to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital and UPMC Mercy, while the suspect was sent to Allegheny General Hospital.[8][35][36]

Suspect

Local authorities identified the suspect as Robert G. Bowers, a 46-year-old resident of Baldwin, Pennsylvania.[14][37][38] He was taken into police custody after the shooting and sent to a hospital.[39][40] Bowers was armed with an AR-15-style rifle[1] and three handguns.[41][2] Bowers has been charged with 29 federal criminal counts, including obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs (a hate crime) and using a firearm to commit murder.[1][9] The counts include "11 counts of obstruction of exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death; 11 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder during a crime of violence; four counts of obstruction of exercise of religious beliefs resulting in bodily injury to a public safety officer and three counts of use and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence".[9]

Bowers' Gab social media profile was registered in January 2018 under the handle "onedingo", and the account's description was: "jews are the children of satan. (John 8:44) --- --- the lord jesus christ is come in the flesh". The cover picture was a photo with the number 1488, which is used by neo-Nazis and white supremacists to evoke David Lane's "Fourteen Words" and the Nazi slogan Heil Hitler. Bowers had published one post that referenced the white genocide conspiracy theory. He also reposted content by other anti-Semitic, neo-Nazi, and Holocaust-denying users,[42][43][44] and he criticized President Donald Trump for being a "globalist, not a nationalist"[45] and for supposedly being controlled and surrounded by Jews.[37][46][47] After the shooting, Gab deleted Bowers' profile.[48]

A month before the attack, Bowers posted photos showing the results of his target practice, and a photo of his three handguns, calling them his "glock family".[43] In the post, he identified the .357 SIG handguns as Glock 31, Glock 32, and Glock 33.[42]

Bowers reportedly made anti-Semitic posts directed at the HIAS National Refugee Shabbat, in which Tree of Life synagogue was participating, in the weeks before the shooting.[49][50][51][52][53] Among other things, Bowers is reported to have claimed that Jews were aiding members of Central American caravans moving towards the United States border and to have referred to members of those caravans as "invaders".[54] Shortly before the attack, in an apparent reference to immigrants to the United States, Bowers posted on Gab that "HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can't sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I'm going in."[37][55][7]

Response

Politicians including President Donald Trump, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, his running mate Braddock mayor John Fetterman, and Pittsburgh City Councilman Corey O'Connor released statements about the incident through Twitter.[56]

In an address to the media, Trump said that the shooting could have been prevented had the synagogue hired armed protection: "If there was an armed guard inside the temple, they would have been able to stop him", he said in a comment to reporters before he boarded a flight to one of his rallies.[57][58][59] He also suggested that the suspect be given the death penalty.[60][59] Michael Eisenberg, a former president of Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha congregation, said that the synagogue did have a police presence on the High Holy Days but that "on a day like today, the door is open. It's a religious service, you could walk in and out."[57] Later, Trump began tweeting about baseball.

The campus of Carnegie Mellon University was placed on lockdown and all university-sponsored activities were cancelled for the day.[28] Local residents were advised by police to remain in their homes and stay off the streets.[34]

On the evening of the shooting, over 3,000 people gathered at the intersection of Murray and Forbes avenues in Squirrel Hill for an interfaith candlelight vigil organized by students from nearby Taylor Allderdice High School.[61] Two additional vigils were also held in the neighborhood.[11]

See also

References

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  2. ^ a b c Rosenblatt, Kalhan; Winter, Tom; Dienst, Jonathan; Williams, Pete; McCausland, Phil (October 27, 2018). "Shooting at Pittsburgh synagogue: At least 11 dead, suspect in custody". NBC News. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  3. ^ Synagogue shooting: 'Multiple casualties' (YouTube upload of press conference). United States: News 5 Cleveland (abc). October 27, 2018. 14:47 minutes in. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
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  5. ^ "Federal charges filed against alleged gunman accused killing 11 people in Pittsburgh synagogue shooting". CNN News. October 27, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  6. ^ Puskar, Gene (October 27, 2018). "Gunman attacks Pittsburgh synagogue, killing 11 people". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  7. ^ a b c Kragie, Andrew (October 27, 2018). "The Synagogue Killings Mark a Surge of Anti-Semitism". The Atlantic. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  8. ^ a b Sheehan, Andy; Schiller, Meghan (October 27, 2018). "8 Dead, Several Others Shot At Pittsburgh Synagogue". KDKA. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  9. ^ a b c d Ward, Paula Reed; Lord, Rich; Navratil, Liz (October 27, 2018). "29 federal charges filed against shooting suspect Robert Bowers - Social posts attributed to suspect may provide clues". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  10. ^ Robertson, Campbell; Mele, Christopher; Tavernise, Sabrina (October 27, 2018). "Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting: At Least 11 Dead and Gunman Identified". The New York Times. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  11. ^ a b Mele, Cristopher (October 27, 2018). "Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting Leaves 'Several' Dead, Official Says". The New York Times. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
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  14. ^ a b Turkewitz, Julie; Roose, Kevin (October 27, 2018). "What We Know About Robert Bowers, Suspect in Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting". The New York Times. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  15. ^ Staff (October 27, 2018). "Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter Identified As Robert Bowers, Yelled 'All Jews Must Die' As He Opened Fire". CBS News. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
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  18. ^ "What we know about Shabbat services taking place at Tree of Life synagogue". WPXI. October 27, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  19. ^ Greenblatt, Jonathan A. (October 27, 2018). "ADL Statement on Synagogue Shooting in Pittsburgh". Anti-Defamation League. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
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  21. ^ Puskar, Gene (October 27, 2018). "Gunman attacks Pittsburgh synagogue, killing 11 people". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  22. ^ "Tree of Life * Or L'Simcha Congregation | Pittsburgh Synagogue". Tree of Life * Or L'Simcha Congregation | Pittsburgh Synagogue. Archived from the original on October 27, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ Paul, Deanna; Selk, Avi; Wang, Amy B. (October 27, 2018). "Pittsburgh synagogue shooting leaves multiple people dead and wounded". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  24. ^ Smith, Peter (February 20, 2018). "Report: Pittsburgh Jewish community growing, spreading out". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  25. ^ "About Us". Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha. October 27, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  26. ^ Olitzky, Kerry M.; Raphael, Marc Lee (1996). The American Synagogue: A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 318. ISBN 9780313288562.
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  28. ^ a b Mamula, Kris; Goldstein, Andrew; Ward, Paula; Navratil, Liz; Bradbury, Shelly (October 27, 2018). "'Multiple casualties,' some fatalities in Squirrel Hill synagogue mass shooting". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  29. ^ Scolforo, Mark; Gillispie, Mark (October 27, 2018). "Suspect in custody in Pittsburgh synagogue attack". Associated Press. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  30. ^ Quinn, Allison; Shallwani, Pervaiz (October 27, 2018). "'Multiple Casualties' After Gunman Opens Fire at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh". The Daily Beast. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  31. ^ Hanson, Hilary; Miller, Hayley; Boboltz, Sara; Richards, Kimberley (October 27, 2018). "Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting: At Least 11 People Dead, Suspect in Custody". Huffington Post. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  32. ^ a b "11 Dead, Several Others Shot At Pittsburgh Synagogue; Suspect In Custody". CBS Local. October 27, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  33. ^ Staff (October 27, 2018). "Multiple casualties at US synagogue". BBC News. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  34. ^ a b Mann, Tanveer (October 27, 2018). "'At least eight dead' as shooter storms prayer service at US synagogue". Metro. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  35. ^ "UPMC Treating Synagogue Shooting Victim" (Press release). University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. October 27, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  36. ^ "Active shooter Pittsburgh: Police respond to reports of a shooting near the Tree of Life synagogue". CBS News. October 27, 2018.
  37. ^ a b c Ward, Paula; Lord, Rich; Navratil, Liz (October 27, 2018). "29 federal charges filed against shooting suspect Robert Bowers". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  38. ^ "Gunman apprehended after shooting at synagogue near Pittsburgh, at least 8 reported dead". CNBC. Associated Press. October 27, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
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  42. ^ a b McBride, Jessica (October 27, 2018). "Robert Bowers: See Squirrel Hill Suspect's Social Media". Heavy.com. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  43. ^ a b "Anti-Semitic social media posts may hold clues in fatal Pittsburgh shooting". Canada: The Globe and Mail. Reuters. October 27, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  44. ^ Lorenz, Taylor (October 27, 2018). "The Pittsburgh Suspect's Internet of Hate". The Atlantic. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
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  46. ^ Turkewitz, Julie; Roose, Kevin (October 27, 2018). "Who Is Robert Bowers, the Suspect in the Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting?". The New York Times. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
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  48. ^ Weill, Kelly (October 27, 2018). "Synagogue Suspect Hated Trump—for Not Hating Jews Enough". The Daily Beast. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  49. ^ "Suspect identified as Robert Bowers, 46, in Squirrel Hill synagogue shooting". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. October 27, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  50. ^ Shannon, Sant (October 27, 2018). "What's Known About Robert Bowers, The Suspect In The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting". NPR. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
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  53. ^ Vesoulis, Abby (October 27, 2018). "How Gab Became the Social Media Site Where the Pittsburgh Suspect's Anti-Semitism Thrived". Time. Retrieved October 27, 2018. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  54. ^ Andone, Dakin; Hanna, Jason; Sterling, Joe; Murphy, Paul P. (October 28, 2018). "11 people killed in Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, official says". CNN. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
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  57. ^ a b Kelly, Caroline; Sanchez, Ray; Stark, Liz (October 27, 2018). "Trump says Pittsburgh synagogue should have had armed guards". CNN.
  58. ^ Stewart, Emily (October 27, 2018). "Trump laments Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, then suggests victims should have protected themselves". Vox.
  59. ^ a b "A massacre in Pittsburgh illustrates America's disunity". The Economist. October 28, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
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  61. ^ Pitz, Marylynne; Smith, Peter (October 27, 2018). "Thousands gather for vigil honoring victims in Squirrel Hill shooting". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
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