Here’s What We Know About The California Synagogue Shooting
The exterior of the Congregation Chabad synagogue is seen on April 27, 2019 in Poway, California. Image by David McNew/Getty Images
A gunman killed one person and injured three more at a synagogue outside San Diego on Saturday. Here’s what we know about the attack. Click on each article for more details:
Some details of the incident have been released: The shooting took place at Chabad of Poway, on the six-month anniversary of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre. The gunman was reportedly chased off by a police officer before surrendering to authorities. Poway mayor Steve Vaus said he thought the event was a hate crime “because of statements that were made when the shooter entered.”
We’re learning more about the suspect: The police have identified the alleged gunman, a 19-year-old white male. A manifesto released online in his name before the attack also took credit for the unsolved arson of a nearby mosque. The manifesto also praised the alleged shooters in Pittsburgh and New Zealand.
The rabbi comforted his congregation – even after being shot: Rabbi Yisrael Goldstein, who founded Chabad of Poway, was one of the injured. He reportedly lost two fingers in the shooting – though he reportedly continued with his sermon to inspire his community before going to the hospital.
President Trump expressed condolences – and other things too: Trump was on his way to the airport to fly to a political rally in Green Bay when he told reporters that he had “deepest sympathies” for the victims. He also talked about his upcoming speech and his “very fast” game of golf with the Japanese Prime Minister.
Support is already coming on from around the world: The Jewish community in Pittsburgh expressed their support for their coreligionists in Poway. So too did online well-wishers from across the globe.
Lori Gilbert-Kaye, killed in the attack, died after jumping in front of the rabbi. Gilbert-Kaye, 60, was shot after she put herself in between the shooter and the rabbi. She died of her wounds at the hospital. In the chaos, her husband was called over to perform CPR on an unknown shooting victim. When he realized it was his wife, he fainted, local news sources reported.
An Israeli man from Sderot, helped rush children to safety in the seconds after the shooting started: Almog Peretz, 34, was injured in his leg as he rushed several children out a side exit of the sanctuary. He was one of several people who instinctively covered or escaped with children. “It doesn’t matter where we go, we have to look out for ourselves,” Peretz told an Israeli radio station. “In Sderot, where I used to live, didn’t they also fire rockets at us?”
Almog Peretz is the uncle of the girl who was injured in the shooting. Jake Peretz, brother to Almog and uncle to Noya, the injured girl, spoke to the Forward about the family, which had just been together to celebrate Passover last week.
Poway Chabad’s Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein is vowing that “terror will not win.” Goldstein, after receiving surgery for his hand, shot by the gunman, took a defiant and hopeful tone in speaking to news media.
Aiden Pink is the deputy news editor for the Forward. You can reach him at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink
Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aefeldman
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
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. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
