Police in San Diego county have named a 19-year-old man held for questioning following a shooting at a synagogue on Saturday that left one woman dead and at least three people injured.
Authorities identified the suspect in the shooting in the city of Poway, 20 miles (30km) north of San Diego, as John Earnest. The San Diego county sheriff, William Gore, said Earnest was from the city of San Diego and had no prior arrests.
Gore said Earnest used an “AR-style” semi-automatic rifle. There were indications that the gun might have malfunctioned after firing numerous rounds inside the synagogue, the sheriff said.
As the shooter fled, an off-duty Border Patrol agent inside the synagogue opened fire, missing him but striking his getaway vehicle, Gore said.
Earnest called 911 shortly afterward to report the shooting, the San Diego police chief, David Nisleit, said. When an officer reached the man on a roadway, “the suspect pulled over, jumped out of his car with his hands up and was immediately taken into custody”, Nisleit said.
Gore said four people were struck by gunfire and taken to the Palomar medical centre, where one of the victims, an “older woman”, died. The three other patients – “two adult males” and a “female juvenile” – were in a stable condition. The identities of the victims were not given.
The fatality was first confirmed by the mayor of Poway, Steve Vaus, who called the incident a “hate crime”.
The community was targeted by “someone with hate in their heart ... towards our Jewish community and that just will not stand”, Vaus said on MSNBC.
Vaus also reported that a rabbi was shot in the hand, and that members of the congregation engaged the gunman. “Those brave people certainly prevented this from being a much worse tragedy,” he said.
The incident came on the last day of Passover and exactly six months since a shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue killed 11 people.
No motive for the attack has been confirmed. Gore said investigators were reviewing the suspect’s social media posts and “his open letter” and that he was also being investigated in relation to a fire at a mosque last month in a nearby city.
Gore said his department would work with the FBI and the city of Escondido, 15 miles (24km) north of the synagogue, to investigate Earnest’s possible connection to an arson that caused property damage at Dar-ul-Arqam mosque last month but no injuries.
A person who identified as John Earnest wrote an online post citing deadly attacks on mosques New Zealand and Pittsburgh synagogue last year.
Authorities confirmed they were aware of an apparent manifesto written by the attacker, but did not delve into its substance and said they were working to confirm its legitimacy.
Nisleit said there was no known threat with the suspect now in custody, but he said authorities stepped up patrol at places of worship in the area as a precaution.
According to the event announcement on the synagogue’s Facebook page, the congregation was hosting a Passover holiday celebration that began about 30 minutes before the sheriff’s office started receiving calls. Authorities said about 100 people were inside.
Minoo Anvari, a member of the synagogue, told media outlets her husband was inside during the shooting. She said he called to tell her the shooter was shouting and cursing. She called the shooting “unbelievable” in a peaceful and tight-knit community. “We are strong; you can’t break us,” she said.
A man who lives nearby, Christopher Folts, said on CNN he heard six to seven gunshots, then a man yelling, followed by six to seven more shots.
Donny Phonea, who lives across the street from the synagogue, said he heard three or four shots and when he looked over his backyard fence facing the synagogue, he saw people hiding behind an electrical box in the parking lot of a neighbouring church. At that point, he knew something was “very, very wrong”.
Nick Cohenmeyer, a lawyer from San Diego, heard about the shooting on Sunday morning. Scrolling through the shooter’s purported manifesto on his phone, he was sceptical gun control would be enough to prevent future shootings amid what he saw as growing antisemitism across the political spectrum, and diminished memory of the horrors Jews faced in the Holocaust. “This guy is kind of the prime example of white nationalism,” Cohenmeyer said. “I don’t think it’s Trump,” he added, “but I do see how the two could be conflated.”
The Chabad community had helped navigate emotional crises he faced in law school, Cohenmeyer said, though he himself is a non-observant Jew. Hearing the news “made me think I’ve got to do something”, he said. So he drove to Poway – with his two standard poodles, Steve and Ned – hoping they could provide emotional support to a grieving congregation.
“It’s close to doing nothing,” he told the Guardian, standing behind police tape across the street from the scene of the crime, “but it’s still better than just going home to watch the news and saying, ‘how terrible it is’.”
Abraham Gelebert, from nearby Rancho Bernardo, was dropping off an Uber passenger when he stumbled upon the scene. To him, the blame for such incidents was obvious. “I think it’s the politics of Washington DC,” he told the Guardian. Behind him, a young woman, in tears, sat staring at the community centre across the street. “The lack of tolerance. We’re just taking a downslide. Instead of forming better relationships with our neighbours, different races and groups, we’re just steadily going in the opposite direction.
“The leadership at the top is important, and it certainly doesn’t take much to push those who are already on the edge.”
As a result, Gelebert said, he no longer felt safe anywhere – in church, at the movie theatre or in his own community. Beyond a change at the White House, he believed there was a need for far stricter gun control.
“The easier it is for people to obtain firearms, especially those that have mental illness, the more likely these incidents are to happen. There’s an undeniable connection,” he said. “Those that refuse to accept that are living on another planet.”
Donald Trump offered “deepest sympathies to the families of those affected” by the shooting in Poway. The president, speaking at the White House, said that the shooting “looked like a hate crime” and called it “hard to believe”. He spoke from the South Lawn before flying to a rally in Wisconsin.
The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said on Twitter that she stood with the Jewish community against “this act of hate”.
Congressman Scott Peters, who represents the district where the shooting occurred, said Saturday: “Tragic news that a gunman has attacked Chabad of Poway synagogue, on this, the last day of Passover, a day that is supposed to be a celebration of faith and freedom. I am thinking of, and praying for, those hurt and affected.”
The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, said: “No one should have to fear going to their place of worship, and no one should be targeted for practising the tenets of their faith.”
Authorities said they were in the process of interviewing about 100 people who were in the synagogue at the time of the attack.
In Pittsburgh, a truck driver who authorities say expressed hatred of Jews has been charged in the 27 October attack at the Tree of Life synagogue. He’s pleaded not guilty.
The Guardian
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