A Jews hater who was yelling “All Jews must die” as he entered a US Synagogue, Tree of Life Synagogue, a Conservative congregation in Pittsburgh killed 8 people and left 6 others injured.
The Jews hater who engaged in a shootout with responding police officers and barricaded himself inside the building before surrendering, was injured and reportedly crawled towards the police. Armed with a rifle and two handguns, the suspect was identified as Robert Bowers, a 48-year-old white male.
Before the shooting, Bowers had written anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant conspiracies on Gab, an alt-right social network similar to Twitter. His last reported message read:
“HIAS likes to bring invaders to kill our people. I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.”
HIAS, formerly Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, is an American-Jewish nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian aid to refugees and immigrants.
“There are no words to express how devastated we are by the events in Pittsburgh this morning,” HIAS said in a statement Saturday. “This loss is our loss, and our thoughts are with Tree of Life Congregation, our local partner Jewish Family and Community Services (JFCS) of Pittsburgh, the city of Pittsburgh and all those affected by this senseless act of violence. As we try to process this horrifying tragedy, we pray that the American Jewish community and the country can find healing.”
It was gathered that among the six people injured, four were police officers, according to authorities.
“It is a very horrific crime scene. It was one of the worst that I’ve seen. It is very bad,” said Wendell Hissrich, the Pittsburgh public safety director.
