Hate-Filled Pittsburgh Synagogue Killer Acted Alone: FBI
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
The suspected gunman who killed 11 worshipers at a Pittsburgh synagogue in the most deadly attack ever on the Jewish community in the United States likely acted alone, officials said on Sunday.
The shooter stormed the building during a Saturday morning service, fatally shooting 11 mostly elderly people and wounding six others including four police officers, before he was arrested.
There was no indication that the suspect, 46-year-old Robert Bowers of Pittsburgh, was working with anyone else, U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said at a news conference.
Bowers, who made statements about genocide and his desire to kill Jewish people during the rampage, will make an initial appearance before a judge on Monday afternoon, Brady said.
“This was an attack upon our neighbors and our friends and one that we felt very deeply,” Brady said.
The Tree of Life synagogue in the city’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, a heavily Jewish area, was holding a Shabbat religious service when the gunman burst in.
The mass shooting prompted security alerts at houses of worship around the country and condemnation from politicians and religious leaders.
It followed a spate of pipe bombs found mailed in recent days to prominent political figures, mostly Democrats including former U.S. President Barack Obama, ahead of Nov. 6 congressional elections.
“We’ll get through this darkest day of Pittsburgh history by working together,” the city’s mayor, Bill Peduto, told reporters.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
