Jennifer Medina, Christopher Mele and Heather Murphy

His attack left a 60-year-old woman dead, the rabbi wounded and a 34-year-old man and a girl with shrapnel wounds.

It was the Sabbath and the last day of Passover, a holiday that celebrates Jewish freedom.

The shooting, at Chabad of Poway, about 25 miles north of San Diego, is the most recent in a series of deadly attacks at houses of worship, including the mass shooting at mosques in New Zealand last month and the church bombings in Sri Lanka last week. It came exactly six months after one of the worst acts of violence against the U.S. Jewish community in decades left 11 dead in a Pittsburgh synagogue.

Local officials called the shooting in Poway, California, a hate crime. The gunman, whom officials identified as John Earnest, a 19-year-old resident of San Diego, screamed that Jews were ruining the world as he stormed the synagogue, according to a government official with knowledge of the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly.

The gunman then fled the building, perhaps because his gun stopped working, the authorities said. An off-duty Border Patrol agent at the synagogue shot at the suspect’s vehicle as he tried to escape. The bullets punctured the suspect’s car but did not injure him.

The synagogue did not have a guard at the time, the official said, and there were about 40 to 60 people there at the time of the shooting. Some had come to services especially to say Yizkor, a memorial prayer for the dead that is said on Jewish holidays.

The rabbi, Yisroel Goldstein, and three of his congregants were taken to Palomar Medical Center.

The San Diego police chief, David Nisleit, said that after the shooting, the gunman called the California Highway Patrol to report his location on Interstate 15 in Rancho Bernardo. He then surrendered to a police officer who was responding to the attack, jumping out of his vehicle with his hands up.

The police said they were investigating whether the gunman had posted a manifesto before the shooting on the online message board 8chan.

The document, an anti-Semitic screed filled with racist slurs and white nationalist conspiracy theories, echoes the manifesto that was posted on 8chan by the gunman in last month’s mosque slayings in Christchurch, New Zealand. The document’s author, who identified himself as John Earnest, claimed to have been inspired by the Christchurch massacre, as well as the shooting in Pittsburgh, and motivated by the same white nationalist cause.

President Donald Trump offered his sympathies from Washington. “Our entire nation mourns the loss of life, prays for the wounded and stands in solidarity with the Jewish community,” he said. “We forcefully condemn the evil of anti-Semitism and hate, which must be defeated.”

Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive and national director of the Anti-Defamation League, which has tracked an increase in anti-Semitic acts in recent years, said the shooting was part of a pattern of deadly extremism.

“This was a pointed attack on Chabad, on the visible Jewish community here, and this is a collective attack on all Jewish communities — this is anti-Semitism unleashed,” Greenblatt said. “In a pattern where prejudice is minimized in an environment where intolerance is trivialized and when prejudice becomes politicized, we shouldn’t be surprised.”

The author of the manifesto also said that he was responsible for a fire at a mosque in Escondido, California, last month, and that he had written graffiti related to the New Zealand attacks at the scene.

Chief Craig Carter of the Escondido Police Department said that investigators were examining whether the claim was legitimate. “If it is indeed the same person, that would definitely give closure to the mosque and our community,” Carter said.

The document also referred to a live video stream and linked to a Facebook page, an indication that the author may have tried to stream the shooting in real-time.

Attendance at the synagogue was larger than usual because of the holiday, with many older congregants there to pray for their deceased parents, said Oscar Stewart, who was inside the synagogue during the shooting. At the time, Goldstein, the rabbi, was speaking to a congregant in the lobby.

When Stewart heard shots ring out, his training from his years in the military kicked in.

“He looked scared,” Stewart said. “I yelled as loud as I could in my mean sergeant voice. I yelled, ‘Get down!,’ and then I ran toward him.”

Stewart said the gunman fled shortly after. “He was a coward,” he added.

Nancy Levanoni, 80, who has been going to the synagogue for 17 years, said, “Apparently, God was looking after us because we got there a little later than normal.”

Services started at 10 a.m., and Levanoni and her husband, Menachem Levanoni, 81, the former president of the synagogue, got there closer to 11:15 a.m.

“As we were getting out of the car, we heard gunshots,” she said. “I thought maybe someone was stepping on those little plastic bubbles.”

They headed toward the synagogue, where Nancy Levanoni saw the rabbi bleeding from a finger, where he appeared to have been shot. One of her closest friends was on the floor, she said.

She learned that her friend had been shot and was seriously injured. The pair had been friends for 17 years and the victim was very active in the synagogue, she said.

“She can’t do enough for people around her,” Levanoni said. “If you are sick, she brings you food. She’s a wonderful, wonderful person.”

Walter Vandivort, who lives in the neighborhood of the synagogue, said he had heard gunshots while he was indoors.

He described the neighborhood as a “peaceful, middle-class” area that had never seen this kind of violence in the decades he had lived there.

“I see the Orthodox Jews walking to their synagogue and we’ve never had a problem,” he said.

The Chabad of Poway was established in 1986, according to its website, part of the Lubavitch movement that focuses on outreach.

Poway, which describes itself as “the city in the country,” is both rural and urban, a place where sports stars have made their homes and where horse trailers are parked in front of many houses.

Neighbors gathered on the sidewalks near the synagogue as police officers closed major roads. Officials in San Diego said that they would increase highly visible patrols and security through the weekend but that there were no other specific threats.

As helicopters flew overhead, Judith Zimmer, a member of Chabad of Poway, stood outside nearby Poway High School, which was being used as a meeting place, and tried to call her daughters in San Diego to tell them she was fine and had not been at the service at the time of the shooting.

“I was going to go with a friend, but she hurt her foot and I decided to stay home,” Zimmer said with tears in her eyes. “We’re a close-knit group here and Poway is a wonderful place to live, but hate happens all over San Diego. I’m sad and disappointed, but I’m not afraid.”

People held hands as they walked into the high school. One man was holding a teenage girl tightly, his arm wrapped around her. Most of them looked down as they went inside.

As palm trees swayed under a bright blue sky, officers diverted traffic and drivers looked out of their windows trying to see past the yellow tape that was blocking the main thoroughfare.

“I heard what happened and had to come over and see if I could help,” said Avi Edberg, who attends Temple Adat Shalom, another Poway synagogue. “My friend is still being interviewed by the police. I’m going to wait for her. I know she’s not at the hospital, so that’s a good thing, right? This is so horrible. Just horrible.”

1 dead in Synagogue shooting near San Diego; officials call it hate crime

LOS ANGELES — The gunman entered the synagogue Saturday yelling anti-Semitic slurs and opened fire with an AR-15-style gun. He paused when the rabbi of the congregation tried to talk with him. But he fired again, shooting the rabbi in the hand.

The shooting, at Chabad of Poway, about 25 miles north of San Diego, is the most recent in a series of deadly attacks at houses of worship, including the mass shooting at a mosque in New Zealand last month and the church bombing in Sri Lanka last week. It came exactly six months after one of the worst acts of violence against the U.S. Jewish community in decades left 11 dead in a Pittsburgh synagogue.

Local officials called the shooting in Poway, California, a hate crime. The gunman, who officials identified as John Earnest, a 19-year-old resident of San Diego, screamed that Jews were ruining the world as he stormed the synagogue, according to a government official with knowledge of the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly about it.

Then gunman then fled the building, perhaps because his gun stopped working, the authorities said. An off-duty border patrol agent at the synagogue shot at the suspect’s vehicle as he tried to escape. The bullets punctured the suspect’s car but did not injure him.

The rabbi, Yisroel Goldstein, and three of his congregants were taken to Palomar Medical Center for treatment.

The document, an anti-Semitic screed filled with racist slurs and white nationalist conspiracy theories, echoes the manifesto that was posted on 8chan by the gunman in last month’s mosque slaying in Christchurch, New Zealand. The document’s author, who identified himself as John Earnest, claimed to have been inspired by the Christchurch massacre, as well as the shooting in Pittsburgh, and motivated by the same white nationalist cause.

Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive officer and national director of the Anti-Defamation League, which has tracked an increase in anti-Semitic acts in recent years, said the shooting was part of pattern of deadly extremism.

The author of the manifesto also claimed responsibility for a fire at a mosque in Escondido, California, last month. The police are looking into whether the two episodes were connected. Law enforcement officials in San Diego said they would increase highly visible patrols and security through the weekend, although there were no other specific threats.

When Stewart heard shots ring out, his training from his years in the military kicked in. As the congregants fled the gunshots, Stewart ran toward them.

“I ran out there and I chased him,” he said. “I chased him out.”

Steward said the gunman then dropped his weapon and ran out the door. “He was a coward,” he said.

Services started at 10 a.m. and Levanoni and her husband, Menachem Levanoni, 81, the former president of the synagogue, got there closer to 11:15 a.m.

Walter Vandivort, who lives in the neighborhood of the Poway synagogue, said he had heard gunshots while he was indoors.

He described the neighborhood as a “peaceful, middle-class” area that had never seen this kind of violence in the decades he has lived there.

Neighbors gathered on the sidewalks near the synagogue as officers closed major roads.

As helicopters flew overhead, Judith Zimmer, a member of Chabad of Poway stood outside nearby Poway High School, which was being used as a meeting place, and tried to call her daughters in San Diego to tell them she was fine and had not been at the service at the time of the shooting.

“I heard what happened and had to come over and see if I could help,” said Avi Edberg, who lives in Poway but attends Temple Adat Shalom, another Poway synagogue. “My friend is still being interviewed by the police. I’m going to wait for her. I know she’s not at the hospital, so that’s a good thing, right? This is so horrible. Just horrible.”

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/27/us/poway-synagogue-shooting.html" id="4678d715-a73e-33e7-ae1b-5eae3dd44238">The New York Times</a>.

One Dead in Synagogue Shooting Near San Diego; Officials Call It Hate Crime

Officials said the assailant had been taken into custody and identified him as John Earnest, a white 19-year-old man armed with an AR-15-style weapon.

The shooting, at Chabad of Poway, about 25 miles north of San Diego, was the most recent in a series of high-profile acts of violence at houses of worship, including the mass shooting at a mosque in New Zealand last month and the church bombing in Sri Lanka last week. It came exactly six months after one of the worst attacks against the U.S. Jewish community left 11 dead in a Pittsburgh synagogue.

Local officials called the California shooting a hate crime. The gunman shouted that Jews were ruining the world as he stormed the synagogue, according to a government official with knowledge of the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly about it.

The synagogue did not have a guard at the time, the official said, and there were about 40 to 60 people there at the time of the shooting.

An older woman died in the shooting, and a young woman and two adult men were in stable condition at a hospital. Derryl Acosta, a spokesman at Palomar Medical Center, confirmed that the rabbi, Yisroel Goldstein, was among those being treated. Goldstein had tried to speak with the gunman before he was shot in the hand, the government official said.

At a news conference Saturday, Sheriff Bill Gore of San Diego County said the gunman’s weapon may have malfunctioned, cutting the attack short.

The San Diego police chief, David Nisleit, said that after the shooting, the gunman called the California Highway Patrol to report his location on Interstate 15 in Rancho Bernardo.

A police officer who was responding to the synagogue attack exited the freeway and saw the gunman in his car. The man pulled over, jumped out of his vehicle and put his hands up, Nisleit said, and the officer saw a rifle on the car’s front passenger seat.

Police were investigating a possible connection between the gunman and a manifesto that was posted before the shooting on the online message board 8chan.

The document, an anti-Semitic screed filled with racist slurs and white nationalist conspiracy theories, echoes the manifesto that was posted to 8chan by the gunman in last month’s mosque slaying in Christchurch, New Zealand. The document’s author, who identified himself as John Earnest, claimed to have been inspired by the Christchurch massacre and motivated by the same white nationalist cause.

The author also claimed responsibility for a fire at a mosque in Escondido, California, last month. Police were looking into whether the two episodes were connected.

They headed toward the synagogue, where Nancy Levanoni saw the rabbi bleeding from a finger where he appeared to have been shot. One of her closest friends was on the floor, she said.

Levanoni learned that her friend had been shot and was seriously injured. The pair had been friends for 17 years and the victim was very active in the synagogue, she said.

On Saturday, for the last day of Passover, there was a special service known as Yizkor to remember deceased family members.

Walter Vandivort, who lives in the neighborhood of the Poway synagogue, said he had heard gunshots while he was indoors. He said he was unsure how many he had heard.

The community, which describes itself as “the city in the country,” is both rural and urban, a place where sports stars have made their homes but where horse trailers are parked in front of many houses.

“I thought I heard shots, but I thought maybe it was a car,” a resident, Jake Padilla, said. “Then I heard it again and I heard people screaming. I started to run outside, and my wife yelled at me to call the cops instead. This kind of thing is getting too common. There’s too much hate in the country right now.”

President Donald Trump offered his sympathies from Washington, saying, “obviously — looks right now based on my last conversations — looks like a hate crime.”

“Hard to believe, hard to believe,” he continued. “With respect to the synagogue in California near San Diego. We’re doing some very heavy research. We’ll see what happens, what comes up. At this moment it looks like a hate crime. But my deepest sympathies to all of those affected. And we’ll get to the bottom of it.”

Rep. Jimmy Gomez said on Twitter: “Another tragedy in a place of worship ... Another instance in America where people went to pray and find peace, only to be met with violence and bloodshed ... My heart goes out to the victims of the Chabad of Poway shooting today.”

Rep. Mike Levin said in a tweet that he was closely monitoring the situation. “We must do more to address the hate behind this attack and end the epidemic of gun violence in this country,” he wrote.

The Chabad of Poway was established in 1986. It approaches the Torah in a “modern, relevant context,” according to its website.

As helicopters flew overhead, Judith Zimmer, a member of Chabad of Poway, stood outside nearby Poway High School, which was being used as a meeting place for synagogue-goers, and tried to call her daughters in San Diego to tell them that she was fine and had not been at the service at the time of the shooting.

As people walked into the high school, they held hands, and one man was holding a teenage girl tightly, his arm wrapped around her. Most of them looked down as they went inside.

As palm trees swayed in the soft breeze under a bright blue sky, traffic was being diverted by police and drivers looked out of their windows trying to see past the yellow tape that was blocking the main thoroughfare.

LOS ANGELES — A gunman opened fire in a synagogue in Southern California on Saturday, authorities said, killing one person and injuring three others during a religious service on the last day of Passover, a holiday that celebrates Jewish freedom.

One Dead in Synagogue Shooting Near San Diego, Officials Say

The shooting, at Chabad of Poway, about 25 miles north of San Diego, came exactly six months after one of the worst attacks against the U.S. Jewish community left 11 dead in a Pittsburgh synagogue.

Local officials called the California shooting a hate crime. The gunman shouted that Jews were ruining the world as he stormed the synagogue, according to a government official familiar with the investigation.

An older woman died in the shooting, and a young woman and two adult men were in stable condition at a hospital. A spokesman at Palomar Medical Center confirmed that the rabbi, Yisroel Goldstein, was among those being treated.

Sheriff Bill Gore of San Diego County said that the gunman’s weapon may have malfunctioned, cutting the attack short.

San Diego police chief David Nisleit said that after the shooting, the gunman called the California Highway Patrol to report his location on Interstate 15 in Rancho Bernardo.

Police are investigating a possible connection between the gunman and a manifesto that was posted before the shooting on the online message board 8chan.

The document echoes the manifesto that was posted to 8chan by the gunman in last month’s mosque slaying in Christchurch, New Zealand. The document’s author, who identified himself as John Earnest, claimed to have been inspired by the Christchurch massacre and motivated by the same white nationalist cause.

The author also claimed responsibility for a fire at a mosque in Escondido, California, last month. Police are looking into whether there is a connection between the two episodes.

LOS ANGELES — A gunman opened fire in a synagogue in Southern California on Saturday, authorities said, killing one person and injuring three others during a religious service on the last day of Passover.

The shooting, at Chabad of Poway, about 25 miles north of San Diego, is the most recent in a series of high-profile acts of violence at houses of worship, including the mass shooting at a mosque in New Zealand last month and the church bombing in Sri Lanka last week. It came exactly six months after one of the worst attacks against the U.S. Jewish community left 11 dead in a Pittsburgh synagogue.

At a news conference Saturday, Sheriff Bill Gore of San Diego County said that the suspect’s gun may have malfunctioned, cutting the attack short.

Neighbors gathered on the sidewalks near the synagogue as police officers taped off and closed major roads.

The 8chan post also referred to a live video stream and linked to a Facebook page, an indication that the author of the post may have tried to stream the shooting in real-time. The Facebook page was removed shortly after the post appeared, and no video of the shooting has yet materialized. The 8chan post was also removed, although the materials it contained have since been reposted on other sites.

As helicopters flew overhead, Judith Zimmer, a member of Chabad of Poway, stood outside of nearby Poway High School, which was being used as a meeting place for synagogue-goers. Zimmer was trying to call her daughters in San Diego to tell them that she was fine and had not been at the service at the time of the shooting.

As people walked into the high school, they held hands, and one man was holding a teenage girl tightly, his arm wrapped around her. Most of them looked down at the ground as they went inside.

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Jennifer Medina, Christopher Mele and Heather Murphy

Articles written by the author

1 dead in Synagogue shooting near San Diego; officials call it hate crime

One Dead in Synagogue Shooting Near San Diego; Officials Call It Hate Crime

One Dead in Synagogue Shooting Near San Diego, Officials Say

One Dead in Synagogue Shooting Near San Diego, Officials Say

One Dead in Synagogue Shooting Near San Diego, Officials Say