Bay Area Synagogues, Jewish Centers On Alert After SoCal Synagogue Shooting
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) - Police across the Bay Area were increasing patrols and officer presence at Jewish houses of worship. The move comes after yet another deadly shooting, this time at a synagogue outside San Diego.
"Somebody started screaming, you know hide yourself, shooting, shooting, shooting, so we all laid on the floor and started crawling toward the exits," a witness explained.
He said the gunman burst into the synagogue just before 11:30 a.m. and started shooting, killing one woman and injuring 3 others, including a rabbi and a young girl.
"He was just focused to kill. You saw the hate and you saw the murder in his eyes," the witness explained.
More than 100 people were at Chabad of Poway in celebrating the last day of Passover when the gunman, later identified by police as 19-year-old John Earnest, opened fire with an A-K style assault rifle.
"We are collecting digital evidence and we are aware of his manifesto, which we are in the process of reviewing to determine it's validity and authenticity," said San Diego Sheriff William Gore.
With what appears to be another targeted attack on a house of worship, members of the Jewish community here in the Bay Area say while they're saddened by Saturday's events, they are no longer shocked.
"It just seems like it's risky to go to synagogue now, although that's not going to deter me," said Clair Wildman who is a member of the Jewish Community Center, in San Francisco.
"I think it's horrible that people out there in this world that would attack a place of worship, especially while people were out there praying," said Raghu Gnanasekaran, another member.
The attack comes exactly 6 months after the mass shooting at a Pittsburgh, PA synagogue that killed 11 people.