Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who was shot in the hands, speaks to members of the media during a press conference outside of the Chabad of Poway Synagogue on April 28, 2019 in Poway, California. Image by SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images

By Aiden Pink April 29, 2019

Jonathan Morales, the off-duty Border Patrol agent whose quick actions likely saved lives in the Chabad of Poway synagogue shooting, was on a journey of rediscovering his Jewish heritage and brought his weapon to pray after being urged to do so by the rabbi, the Times of Israel reported.

“Morales recently discovered his Jewish roots,” Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who was injured in the shooting, said at a press conference on Sunday. “He would travel three and a half hours from El Centro to pray with us at our shul. He felt this was his house of worship. And many times I said, ‘Jonathan, you work for the border patrol. Please arm yourself when you are here; we never know when we will need it.’”

When the shooter’s gun jammed, Morales and a fellow congregant, Army veteran Oscar Stewart, attempted to subdue the gunman. Morales later gave chase and fired on the shooter, hitting his car. Goldstein said the gun malfunction was “miraculous.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Morales was praised by President Trump on Twitter on Sunday. “Sincerest THANK YOU to our great Border Patrol Agent who stopped the shooter at the Synagogue in Poway, California,” Trump wrote. “He may have been off duty but his talents for Law Enforcement weren’t!”

Goldstein had earlier told CNN that his congregation didn’t have active-duty guards that day. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t afford to have an armed security officer at every service, so whenever we had extra help, we were grateful for it,” he said.

Aiden Pink is the deputy news editor for the Forward. You can reach him at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount