Eleven Dead in Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting; Four Officers, Two Others Injured

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Category: Crime

Published on Saturday, 27 October 2018 14:06

Written by Janet Walker

At least eleven guests at a baby naming ceremony at the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood are dead after a lone gunman entered the building shouting "All Jews must die" and opened fire.

Six others, including four police officers were injured in the massacre. Two victims were inside the synagogue surviving the carnage, the four officers were injured and pinned down on arrival.

Confirmed reports from multiple witnesses said the shooter, Robert Bowers, 46, shouted "All Jews must die" before opening fire on the guests who had gathered to celebrate new life with a traditional bris or circumcision ceremony had been progress.

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Visibly emotional, Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich spoke with reporters. When asked about the scene, he said, "It's a very horrific crime scene. One of the worst that I've seen, and I've been on some plane crashes. It's very bad." He declined to confirm the number of dead. "The investigation will be led by the FBI in Philadelphia, and the shooting has been classified a federal hate crime," he said.

Sources said the synagogue was packed with three different services when the shooter entered the "soft target" dressed in tactical gear carrying an Ak-15, an automatic assault weapon and like those who yell Allahu Akbar he screamed a ethnic edict and opened fire.

First Responders were met with a hail of gunfire and immediately pinned down. At least four officers attempting to control the situation were shot. As SWAT, FBI, local, state officers and federal military responded the shooter was targeted and wounded.

Badly injured he surrendered. Police reported he had multiple weapons strapped to his person and was unable to walk out of the synagogue. He was taken to a local hospital.

Very little is known about the identities of the victims who have now become a statistic in an ever growing and unaddressed issue of gun control, gun safety, common sense gun reform, and ultimately freedom and liberty in the United States.

The shooter, was active on social media found a community of like-minded supporters who agreed with his militant and anti-Semitic. His accounts have been taken down although many news organization were able to secure portions of his postings before removal and the information contained in those accounts has become evidence.

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Injured survivors are listed as critical and have been taken to area Level three and Level Two trauma centers. All information on the victims, until further notice, has been suppressed pending notification of next of kin.

World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder called the massacre "an attack not just on the Jewish community, but on America as a whole."

This is a deveoping story.

Sources: Various