At Least Eight Dead In Shooting At Pittsburgh Synagogue
At least eight people are dead in a mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue.
At least eight people are dead, and multiple people, including three police officers, are dead after a morning shooting at a synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighboorhood of Pittsburgh:
The police in Pittsburgh reported “multiple casualties” after responding to a report of an active shooter at a synagogue Saturday morning, a police commander said.
Chris Togneri, a spokesman for the Pittsburgh police department, said that three officers had been shot and that the suspect was in custody.
The commander, Jason Lando, told CNN that “right now we have multiple casualties, we’re working the situation.” It was not immediately clear how many other people had been shot.
Erika Strassburger, the city councilwoman for the district that includes the synagogue, the Tree of Life Congregation, said it was not immediately clear how many other people had been shot.
Ms. Strassburger said the gunman had previously been barricaded inside the building.
President Trump said on Twitter that he was monitoring the situation. He wrote: “Law enforcement on the scene. People in Squirrel Hill area should remain sheltered. Looks like multiple fatalities. Beware of active shooter. God Bless All!”
Gov. Tom Wolf of Pennsyvlania said on Twitter it was “a serious situation” and that State Police were helping local law enforcement.
Ben Opie, 55, who can see the synagogue from his backyard, said his wife was about to leave the house on Saturday morning to do some volunteer work when SWAT officers approached their home and said there was an active shooter in the synagogue.
“They chased my wife inside,” he said. “They just said get in the house.”
More from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Three officers have been shot, multiple people wounded and some killed in a shooting at Tree of Life Congregation in Squirrel Hill Saturday morning.
The shooter is in custody, Pittsburgh Police report.
“There are multiple casualties. Neighbors are advised to shelter in place and stay in their homes and lock their doors,” Pittsburgh Police Cmdr. Jason Lando said.
“It sounded like a loud crash in the hallway,” said Stephen Weiss of Squirrel Hill, who was in Tree of Life services Saturday morning. Services were scheduled from 9:45 a.m. to noon.
As Mr. Weiss was running through the building, he heard loud, repeated gunfire that he said sounded like an automatic weapon. He ran to the basement and found the congregation holding services there sheltering in place. He then went back up to the main chapel and left the building, he said.
Tree of Life contains three congregations — Tree of Life, New Light and Dor Hadash — and all three were having services Saturday morning.
The third-floor classroom where the shooting took place normally had a class, but it had been canceled for Saturday, said Michael Eisenberg, immediate past president of Tree of life.
Mr. Eisenberg said when he was president, he emphasized security and had U.S. Homeland Security come in to conduct a security drill because of “what was going on all over the country.”
Gov. Tom Wolf issued the following statement in response to the shooting:
“The shooting in Pittsburgh this morning is an absolute tragedy. I have spoken with local leaders and my administration and the Pennsylvania State Police will provide any resources to assist local law enforcement and first responders. These senseless acts of violence are not who we are as Americans. My thoughts right now are focused on the victims, their families and making sure law enforcement has every resource they need.”
Jeff Finklestein, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, said he was in his home this morning when he heard about the shooting.
“I’m just sad,” he said. “I don’t know what to tell you. My heart goes out to all these families.
“This should not be happening, period,” he continued. “This should not be happening in a synagogue. This should not be happening in our neighborhood, Squirrel Hill.”
KDKA, the CBS television affiliate in the area, reports that there are at least eight dead, and that three police officers have been shot:
#BREAKING: #Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting:
–8 dead
–3 police officers shot
—@GovernorTomWolf on scene
–Gunman arrested, walked in yelling "All Jews must die."
–Tree of Life Synagogue
–Live coverage: https://t.co/zNLpv1Uk3i
Latest details: https://t.co/JhSP1URRNT pic.twitter.com/CvFpKE1ZTQ— KDKA (@KDKA) October 27, 2018
Media reports on social media are describing the suspect as a white male in his 40s, and several reports that seem to have come from people who were in the synagogue at the time indicate that he shouted “All Jews must die” prior to opening fire. Other reports, which are unconfirmed at this time, state that the shooter was armed with an AR-15 and multiple handguns but it is unclear exactly which weapon(s) were used in the shooting. At the time of the shooting, there were apparently three separate Shabbat services going on, held by the three congregations that share the building. Additionally, one person who was interviewed by the local station being simulcast by CNN said that there was a bris going on in one of the smaller rooms in the building. The main congregation had, according to one estimate, somewhere close to 60 people inside at the time. Shabbat services for the main congregation begin at 9:45 a.m. on Saturday mornings and that the shooting began roughly some time after 10:00 a.m. At the time that I’m writing this, it’s being reported that police have secured the building sufficiently to allow for the people who were remaining inside who were not injured to leave.
KDKA has also identified the suspect:
#BREAKING: KDKA-TV sources identify #Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting suspect as Robert Bowers. https://t.co/nRD4X8f0yf
Watch Live: https://t.co/zNLpv1Uk3i pic.twitter.com/2v3VDyOXLG
— KDKA (@KDKA) October 27, 2018
And there are reports of social media posts by Bowers:
Posts from the suspected Pittsburgh shooter Robert Bowers. He hated Trump and thought Trump was controlled by Jews. This monster is an unhinged anti-Semitic terrorist. pic.twitter.com/sjb2k6ucwb
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) October 27, 2018
Another post from Pittsburgh Synagogue shooter Robert Bowers. His profile clearly illustrates that he’s a Nazi, admired Hitler, hates Trump, believes Trump is controlled by Jews, he did not vote for Trump. That’s all I was able to archive before his profile was wiped. Sickening. pic.twitter.com/DPQfGuWDzY
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) October 27, 2018
This is all lines up. Robert Bowers name was heard on the police scanner and his last post on social media said in part: "Screw your optics I’m going in"
Absolutely sickening posts from this monster.
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) October 27, 2018
Being very clear for media picking this up, this man Robert Bowers was named on police scanner, found his profile, last post was this and his social media account was wiped while I was archiving it. His account was anti-Semitic conspiracies and anti-Trump posts/conspiracies. pic.twitter.com/uRNfWAEWLW
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) October 27, 2018
More from WPXI:
Suspect talked about hatred for Jewish people while being apprehended, sources tell @WPXIRickEarle. LIVE coverage NOW on Channel 11. https://t.co/rHxKlwHn4o pic.twitter.com/5VvWZ7clgp
— WPXI (@WPXI) October 27, 2018
As is always the case in these sorts of scenarios, there is more we don’t know than what we do know and anything that is being reported without official confirmation should be taken with a grain of salt. That being said, it seems clear from the reports that this shooter was motivated by anti-semitism and appears to be part of the extreme alt-right that has taken hold on websites such as Reddit and others.
Further updates as warranted. You can also follow the Twitter feeds of KDKA and WPXI for updates, as well as mine since the weather appears to be keeping me inside today,
Update: CNN is now reporting ten dead:
Ten people were killed in a shooting Saturday morning at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, according to Curt Conrad, chief of staff for Pittsburgh City Councilman Corey O’Connor.
The suspect has been identified as Robert Bowers, 46, law enforcement officials told CNN.
The gunman made anti-Semitic statements during the shooting, a law enforcement official said.
Social media postings targeting Jews that are believed to have come from Bowers are a focus of the investigation, a federal law enforcement official told CNN.
Shortly before the shooting, in an account on the Gab social media platform that authorities are investigating, the suspect is believed to have posted he “can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.”
The Gab account has frequent anti-Semitic postings.
Four police officers were among six people injured in the shooting, Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell D. Hissrich said.
“It’s a very horrific crime scene,” Hissrich said at a brief press conference. “It’s one of the worst I’ve seen.”• A law enforcement source told CNN investigators believe social media postings on the Gab account belong to Bowers. The language on the account matches the suspected motivation behind the shootings, the source said.
• In a statement, Gab disavowed “all acts of terrorism and violence” and said its mission was to defend free expression and individual liberty online for all people.” After being alerted to the suspect’s profile on the platform, Gab said it backed up the data, suspended the account and contacted the FBI.
• The officers’ injuries aren’t considered life-threatening, but the other two people injured are critical, Hissrich said. Both of those victims have been taken to trauma centers. A law enforcement official earlier told CNN at least 12 people have been shot.
• The shooter was also taken to a hospital, Hissrich told reporters. Conrad, the chief of staff for a councilman, previously told CNN the shooter surrendered and was taken to Mercy Hospital.
• “There appears to be no active threat to the community,” Hissrich said.
There is a police briefing scheduled for 4:00 p.m. this afternoon, at which point we’re likely to get more information.
Update #2: It is now being reported that there are eleven dead and six injured. Four of the six injured are police officers, two of whom are patrol officers injured who were among the first on the scene and the other two are members of the SWAT team that entered the synagogue to capture the suspect:
Update: Authorities say 11 people were killed at the synagogue in Pittsburgh. pic.twitter.com/dhYBevF9On
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) October 27, 2018
Allegheny County Director of Public Safety Wendell Hissrich: 11 people were killed, none of which were children, 6 were injured, including the 4 police officers. The number of injured does not include the shooter.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 27, 2018
Just wanted to say nicely assembled Doug.
As I noted on Twitter (thanks for the RT), this is the second (race-based) attack on a place of worship this (shitty) week. According to reports, the reason that the Kentucky shooting on Wednesday happened in a Kroger is that the shooter could gain access to a (African American) church. That left two African American women dead.
I expect we’ll find out that the shooter in KT was a member of the alt-right as well.
As someone pointed out on twitter, it’s great to know that given three domestic terrorist attacks this week, DHS is focusing all its attention on *checks notes* a group of Central Americans families who are still days away from the border.
Archive of his gab. ai account
archive .is /1zr9J
“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.”
@Gobsmacked:
Reading through those archives, it’s clear that Bowers strongly disliked Trump, not because Bowers was a liberal, but because he thought Trump was too soft on Jews.
Bowers rhetoric in those post was very closely aligned with the Charlottesville/alt-right protesters.
Son was in Pittsburgh about 10 days ago visiting friends and preparing for some computer event I dont understand. They were putting up posters to advertise the event. They saw a bunch of pro-nazi, anti-semitic posters, which they took down. I dont know why, but PA has always been home to some skinhead, anti-semitic groups.
Steve
@steve:
Western PA has been known to have KKK activity in the past
@Resistance Ron:
You truely revel in being an asshole, don’t you?
(btw, this isn’t an insult, it’s a simple statement of fact based on your posts)
Frankly, all evidence to date seems like he was much closer of those “very fine people” from Charlotte that you defended under another persona a while back.
There a fundamental difference between critiquing the actions of Israel and actual anti-semitism that leads people to shoot up synagogues, but that type of nuance is sadly lost on someone like you.
But hey, please keep defending the alt-right (as you have done across your various accounts here). It doesn’t make you look pathetic at all.
@mattbernius: One thing about Trump’s Neo-Nazi supporters that I have never understood… Jared Kushner is right there, being all Jewish, and converting Ivanka to Judaism. And Trump’s support for the far right in Israel is pretty clear for all to see.
I understand that no candidate is perfect, and that we make compromises all the time in our political system, holding our noses as we vote, but if you are a pathetic Nazi wannabe tattooing 1488 on your arm, and you really hate the Jews, I would expect that you want a bit of purity from your candidate on your big issue.
I mean, do they sit around and say “well, he’s not great on the Jewish issue, but he’s coming around on LGBT issues, and on Latinos and African-Americans he’s really up there.”
So, this gunman being an anti-Trump new-Nazi makes perfect sense to me.
And, one thing I’ve never understood about Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump… when daddy refers to globalists like George Soros, do they not see him stoking the fires of antisemitism?
Further, while I’m not going to blame Trump for this, it’s worth noting that some administrative decisions don’t look as great based on the past weeks actions. For example:
@Resistance Ron:
Trump has been stirring up the far right racist contingent since he announced his candidacy. He has welcomed their support, and legitimized them. When Neo-Nazis descended upon Charlottesville, he praised the good people on both sides.
Trump has basically said to the Neo-Nazis that they are welcome to be a part of mainstream America.
Anti-Semitic attacks are up during the Trump administration. You can’t draw a direct line from Trump to the anti-semitic attacks, and we cannot say that this attack wouldn’t have been our nations usual background of anti-semitic violence. But, we can see the broad picture.
It’s like global warming. Was a particular hurricane caused by global warming? Hard to tell. But you can see the big picture.
(Yeah, I know, don’t feed the trolls, but I was very pleased with the global warming analogy)
For those, who like me, didn’t know what HIAS is:
@mattbernius:
One day I’ll post without a typo… maybe… that was meant to be “Charlottesville.”
The alt-reich does love them some Trump. David Duke praises him to the skies, Stormfront endorsed his candidacy, and The Crusader, the official newspaper of the Klan, sang Trump’s praises on its front page before the election.
They hate what they call “the Joooos” worse than they hate blacks and Hispanics–and they despise blacks and Hispanics.
I’m sure bithead will be around soon to tell us this is just another false flag operation.
This dude may be a Qanon clown, which is like a dumber version of Trumpism, but he appears to have been motivated by the president’s obsession with the “caravan.”
Vote.
@mattbernius:
They are about a thousand miles away and at last check were making 20 miles per day. At that rate they will get to the US just in time for Xmas.
@Resistance Ron:
Perhaps you can point out the incindiary rhetoric that Bernie Sanders put out there that contributed to or caused (yet another white male) person to shoot Representative Steve Scalise?
On the other hand, Donald Trump has been supportive of alt-right rhetoric since inauguration day 2017.
While the president warns us of that dangerous ‘caravan’ of immigrants from Central America, who are coming to our border to seek asylum, and to improve their lives … we have home grown terrorists shooting up a synagogue, mailing IEDs to prominent liberal politicians, shooting people from hotel rooms in Las Vegas, shooting churchgoers in Charleston SC, in Texas, and in classrooms in Florida. Our problem is here, not with that ‘caravan.’
@steve:
My son and his fiance live in this neighborhood. Luckily I got his safe report before the news hit the wire. It’s all too crazy and it’s all too close.
Truly awful. One of my friends is involved with the Jewish community up in Pittsburgh and was checking if they were OK. It’s a small community up there and this has got to be devastating.
As for Trump, since it seems we must always talk about him. No, I don’t think he’s anti-semitic. But I think his dalliance with the Alt Right and his waffling on Charlottesville has helped carve out a space where these people feel comfortable expressing their view and, increasingly, acting on them. Even if they hate Trump, they see an opportunity to advance their cause. Anti-semitic hate crimes soared in 2017.
It’s not entirely his fault. As I’ve said before, these people are the barnacles of the political world, glomming onto any ship that says “outsider”. They used to latch onto Ron Paul, now they’re no Trump. But to be really fair, he’s done little if anything to shake them off.
@steve:..I dont know why, but PA has always been home to some skinhead, anti-semitic groups.
That’s because they are everywhere.
@Gustopher:
As someone who has been following the white nationalist movement for years, I have to say this has it exactly backwards.
In a weird way, the WNs are very much not into ideological purity. Their far bigger obsession–going back decades–is to penetrate the mainstream, to move the Overton Window in their direction (and the concept of the Overton Window is very popular on the alt-right). Many WN groups have made compromises in some of their traditional rhetoric. As I’ve mentioned here before, the white-nationalist American Renaissance conference has featured (very, very, far-right) Jewish speakers, alongside anti-Semitic ones–though the conference has also given a cold shoulder to some of the more overt anti-Semites such as David Duke. They want to be seen as semi-respectable, in order to gain a foothold in the mainstream.
There was a lengthy, fascinating, and thoroughly researched Politico piece in 2016 about how the WN movement learned to love Donald Trump. It was more gradual than a lot of people realize. Initially, they were suspicious of him–many of them thought he was a secret Jew, or at any rate too involved in Jewish interests. And they hated when Ivanka converted and married Jared. Even his embrace of birtherism and his calling Mexicans rapists did not at first win most of them over. Apparently, the pivotal moment came in mid-2016, when he initially refused to disavow David Duke, claiming (implausibly) never to have heard of him. As the article notes:
@Gustopher:
They know, and they don’t care. I’m convinced they’re both self-serving hacks who would gladly sell out their own people. All that matters to them is advancing their own interests, including their business empire.
Two of the Apprentice producers, bound by an NDA from going into much detail, have stated that they heard Trump say vile things about both blacks and Jews that make anything he’s said in public pale by comparison. I believe them. I’m also deeply suspicious about what Jared and Ivanka know. Whenever they’re asked about it, they talk about how warmly loving and tolerant Trump is of their Judaism–but that’s just typical Trumpian gaslighting. Whenever Trump or the people surrounding him insist on something, it’s a good bet the exact opposite is the truth. An extensive profile of Ivanka in 2016 revealed that Trump was unhappy with her decision to convert to Judaism. Now I want to be clear–I don’t think that in itself proves he’s an anti-Semite. It strikes me more as an example of his narcissism. But it definitely conflicts with the picture Jared and Ivanka have tried to paint. I think they’re hiding something, and it would not surprise me to learn he’s said anti-Semitic things in private and they know about it. It would make a great deal of sense, actually.
This isn’t a case of a charming racist grandpa. Trump isn’t charming. From all available evidence, all his relationships in life are transactional–people use him to benefit themselves, and vice versa. In some ways he’s less of a white supremacist than a Trump supremacist. That’s why you’ll find plenty of examples of him cozying up to individual African Americans, Latinos, and Jews–particularly those with wealth, fame, and power, but more particularly those who heap praise on him. It doesn’t reflect what he thinks of those groups in general, and it’s naive to assume it does.
My family came here under HIAS sponsorship.
We must strive for peace and cordiality and even fraternity with all. A respectful tone should be our default setting.
Our country has seen far too many murderous rampages. Let’s talk calmly about measures to limit these evils. We have seen racial shootings in a grocery store, bombs mailed out, and now these murders all in this past week. Something needs to change.
Ah güt woch.
After the shooting, Dobbs had a Chris Farrell (from Judicial Watch, a ‘conservative’ organization) on Fox talking about the “Soros occupied” State Department and possible ties to the caravan.
@One American: Serious question here: What crimes has Avenatti committed? What crimes that deserve the same sanctions as a murderer and a terrorist? Being a “crappy lawyer” and a “freak” are not illegal.
Further question: do hyperbolic accusations help the cause of justice and our country? I’d like to see less polarization. How about you?
@One American:
Seriously: You don’t think Trump is a scummy person? I’ve got to hear how you explain that.
@Kylopod: Yeah I’ve been watching stormfront and some others for a long time now and your post is spot on. I also know a few of those types in person =/
@One American: Maybe the fake bomb-van guy and the real murderer of innocent people going about their business can share a jail cell and a crappy lawyer like that Avenatti freak.
Thank you. I don’t understand why people can’t see the moral equivalence between Bowers, who executed 11 people in an anti-semitic rampage, Sayoc, who sent at least 12 bombs to various people, and Avenatti, a self-serving lawyer who is a vocal critic of the president. Obviously, their actions are equally bad.
@Gustopher: Re: The global warming metaphor. I’ve had that same thought occur to me because one description of AGW is ‘the atmosphere stores more and more energy’. Our political/cultural space also becomes energized. Storms grow more frequent & destructive. Und zo weider.
@One American: Trump and friends are also under investigation. But that’s just fake news in your world right?
@JohnMcC: My problem with the global warming metaphor is that it’s too vague. There’s a traditional relationship between white supremacy and anti-Semitism that comes into play here, and it’s one that has definitely reared its head in the rhetoric of the Trumpists from the very beginning. Traditionally, Jews have always been cast by white supremacists in the roles of collaborators–the people responsible for the pollution of society by “degenerate” elements (i.e. nonwhites). This is a theme that goes all the way back to Hitler, and it survives to this day in the rhetoric of neo-Nazis and their ilk. In 2009, an elderly neo-Nazi tried to shoot up DC’s Holocaust Museum (and ended up killing a black security guard before being shot down himself). It came out that he had once authored a book arguing that Jews were involved in a plot to destroy the white race. That’s a fairly common trope among white nationalists.
The difference is that in Europe, Jews were the primary target of these types of beliefs, not blacks or other persons of color. In the US, the reverse has generally been the case. Indeed, there are a number of historical examples of hardcore racists showing surprising tolerance toward Jews. The final Sec. of State of the Confederacy was Jewish. The last US president who was definitely a white supremacist, Woodrow Wilson, was also the first president to put a Jew on the Supreme Court.
Nevertheless, anti-Semitism continues to serve as a kind of bellwether for other kinds of hatred: whenever there’s a flare-up of bigotry against other groups, it’s usually a safe bet that anti-Semitism can’t be far behind. For years, the right’s bizarre obsession with Soros has had this dimension; it reminds me heavily of the “Two Minutes Hate” toward “Emmanuel Goldstein, Enemy of the People” from 1984. But because of the position of Jews in society today, and the alliance with the Zionist Right, the anti-Semitism can’t be as explicit as it was in the past, and the smear that Soros was a “Nazi collaborator” is part of the double-game the right plays to make it sound like it’s acting as defender of the Jews.
In 2016, Louis Farrakhan heaped high praise on Trump on the grounds that he was standing up to Jewish power in America. It may seem strange that he (as well as the white-nationalist anti-Semites) would reach that conclusion about a president who has fairly surrounded himself with Jews. I assume they were reacting to things like the way he told the RJC that “I don’t want your money,” or how he framed his candidacy in part as an attack on the neocon establishment. This goes back to the point I made earlier: they’re not looking for purity, they’re looking for a disruption of the status quo in their direction. One way or another, anti-Semites perceive that Trump has made unmistakable signals that he shares their preoccupations. To paraphrase what Andrew Gillum recently said about DeSantis: it’s not so much that Trump is an anti-Semite as that anti-Semites think he is one.
@One American: You didn’t answer my question at all.
@One American: You certainly have no obligation to answer me or anyone else. But then, that just makes it hard to understand why you come here at all. I come here to have conversations with other people–including those I disagree with. You come here doing nothing but cheerleading for your side and attacking anyone on the other side. What’s the point of doing that? Why do you consider that a productive use of your time? What is it you think you’re accomplishing?
And no, you don’t have to answer any of that–but that doesn’t mean your failure to do so is some kind of achievement worth bragging about.
A totally staged event. Bowers was either FBI or completely fabricated computer-generated image. I’ve seen no blood I’ve seen no bodies. No ambulances. No stretchers. Ironically this is the same synagogue that a rabbi severed a newborn’s penis off. To me that’s a bigger crime.
Maxx,
You’re an idiot. I have family in Pittsburgh. They live not far from the Squirrel Hill neighborhood. I also happen to know someone who is an LEO in the area. It happened. Those 12 people are dead and Bowers did it.