Man agrees to plead guilty to LA shootings of 2 Jewish men

A man who shot and wounded two Jewish men as they left religious services in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood of Los Angeles agreed to plead guilty to federal hate crime charges carrying a sentence of 35 to 40 years' imprisonment, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced Tuesday.

Jaime Tran, 29, opened fire on a man wearing a black jacket and yarmulke on Feb. 15, 2023, shooting the man in the back as he walked to his car parked a block away from the synagogue near the 1400 block of Shenandoah Street, according to prosecutors. The victim watched as a gray Honda Civic driven by Tran moved slowly toward him. His back was turned to the car when he "heard a loud bang and felt sudden pain on the right side of his back," realizing he had been shot, the Attorney's Office said in a statement.

The following day, Tran shot another Jewish man wearing a black jacket and a yarmulke as he left religious services in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood. The victim was leaving a synagogue near the 1600 block of South Bedford Street when Tran shot him, leaving him with a gunshot wound to the bicep. The victim heard three loud shots before realizing his right arm was bleeding.

The plea agreement signed by Tran states that he searched online for "kosher markets" before targeting the victims, telling law enforcement officers that he chose the men based on their "head gear."

He has agreed to plead guilty to charges carrying a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment.

"These horrific acts – motivated by poisonous, antisemitic beliefs – shocked our community," U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement released by his office. "Law enforcement will continue to work together to prevent and punish hate crimes. Our resolve remains firm, standing with our Jewish community and others to oppose acts of hate." 

The day of the second shooting, the Los Angeles Police Department traced Tran's phone number to the Palm Springs area. About eight hours after the shooting, around 5:45 p.m., Cathedral City police officers got a call about a man with a gun in the area. 

Officers later told FBI agents that they found Tran standing next to the driver's side door of his Honda Civic and on the driver's side front seat was an AK-style rifle and a .380-caliber handgun, which is what investigators believed was used in the shootings based on shell casings found at the scene. They also found a spent casing.

The indictment in the case states that Tran has a history of making antisemitic statements and violent threats toward Jewish people.

In 2018, he left a dental school after "making hate-filled statements about other students whom he perceived to be Jewish," according to the court filings. His harassing language and threats "escalated" between August and December 2022 as he repeatedly called and texted a former classmate antisemitic statements and insults. That November, prosecutors allege he also emailed two dozen former classmates a flyer espousing antisemitic propaganda.

Following his Feb. 17, 2023 arrest, Tran was charged with two hate crime counts for willfully causing bodily injury and attempting to kill the victims as well as two counts of discharging a firearm in relation to a violent crime. 

Less than two weeks later, on Feb. 28, LAPD Chief Michel Moore revealed the FBI had been tracking Tran at the time of the shootings and was aware of his harassment of former classmates at UCLA's dental school and his mental health struggles.

"How he came into the possession of that rifle as well as the handgun, given his mental health condition, is the subject of our continued investigation," Moore said. 

Meanwhile, Tran was also facing a firearms charge at the time of the shootings. However, prosecutors with the LA County District Attorney's Office were not aware of the other allegations against Tran or that the FBI was tracking him.

"We were not advised of any threats made by Mr. Tran," Deputy DA Tiffiny Blacknell said in a statement. "If we had been advised we could have made the court aware of those allegations and the court could have taken appropriate action."

Brian Levin, civil rights attorney and founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University San Bernardino, said law enforcement agencies should have worked better at ensuring Tran did not pose a threat to the public.

"Bottom line is this was a failure not only of system but also of discretion," Levin said. "We should all try to make sure that when someone fits the textbook example of a dangerous, violent antisemite that we don't say 'Hey, which firearms would you like.'"