Horrified and sad, people reacted to the shooting in the synagogue in the state of California. Politicians and religious leaders condemned the act and warned against increasing anti-Semitism.
A 19-year-old had entered a synagogue in the town of Poway on Saturday and shot himself. An elderly woman was killed and three people were injured. The perpetrator was arrested. He is also suspected of having previously spread hate slogans on the net.
Danny Almog is still in shock. He was in the synagogue in Poway at the time of the shooting, with his children in another part of the building. The perpetrator, according to Almog, was wearing a vest and an assault rifle. He had come to murder. „We saw the hatred in his eyes.“
Almog tried to get to his children. He saw his father-in-law, who had thrown himself over one of his grandchildren. A friend of the family grabbed more children to bring them to safety. The culprit shot him and injured the 34-year-old’s leg. Also injured were a nine-year-old girl and the rabbi. Apparently this owes his life to a parishioner. According to testimony, the 60-year-old Lori Gilbert-Kaye had thrown in front of the rabbi, she was fatally shot in the shootout.
Suspicious announcement on the net
The alleged perpetrator still live with his parents and go to a nursing school, reports the local television. Police he has not noticed so far. Investigators are now checking to see if he has a paper that was uploaded to the internet just over two hours before the attack. In it, the attack was announced, also promised a Facebook video. The link did not work.
The author confesses in the unverified letter also to an as yet unresolved arson attack on a mosque in Escondido, California, about 20 kilometers from Poway. He also refers to the alleged assassin of Christchurch, which is said to be responsible for an attack on two mosques with 50 fatalities in New Zealand.
Politicians and religious leaders condemn the act
The Director of the Holocaust Memorial Museum of the United States states in a statement: „This should serve as a new wake-up call that anti-Semitism is a growing and deadly threat.“
US President Donald Trump spoke of a hate crime. Former Vice President Joe Biden wrote on Twitter: „Nobody should be afraid to practice his religion, as a country we must speak out against fanaticism and gun violence, we are in the fight for the soul of our nation, we all have to do something.“
