Pittsburgh police responded Saturday morning to an active-shooter situation at the Tree of Life Synagogue in a heavily populated residential area in Squirrel Hill that has left multiple people dead, according to area reports. A suspect, identified as 46-year-old Pittsburgh resident Robert Bowers, reportedly surrendered to police.
Bowers was said to have posted numerous messages of racial hatred on social media, including one as recently as Saturday morning, the Jewish sabbath, saying, in part: “Screw your optics. I’m going in.”
CBS News reported that the shooter shouted, “All Jews must die,” during the attack. He was said to have been armed with an AR-15–style rifle along with more than one handgun.
In addition to his antisemitic postings, including some on the Gab site, reputedly a favorite of the alt-right, Bowers was said to have been critical of President Donald Trump, whom he is said to have viewed as not sufficiently ethnonationalist. “There is no #MAGA,” reads a Bowers post from this week on Gab, “as long as there is a [anti-Jewish slur] infestation.”
Bowers was reported to be receiving medical treatment.
Local and national news indicated that there were numerous fatalities and casualties, but numbers have varied. A report by KDKA, CBS’s local Pittsburgh affiliate, said as many as eight were dead, but later reports indicated that four people were confirmed dead and 12 wounded. Early reports indicated that three police officers were among those shot.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf had initially stated in a tweet: “We are still learning details about the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh but it is a serious situation.”
We are still learning details about the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh but it is a serious situation. @PAStatePolice are assisting local first responders. Please stay away from the area and keep the congregants and law enforcement in your prayers.
— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) October 27, 2018
Wolf later tweeted that he was headed to the scene:
On my way to Pittsburgh. Headed to the scene at Tree of Life Synagogue shooting.
The suspect is in custody.
We are providing local first responders with whatever help they need.
— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) October 27, 2018
President Donald Trump tweeted that he was watching the tragic events unfold:
Watching the events unfolding in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Law enforcement on the scene. People in Squirrel Hill area should remain sheltered. Looks like multiple fatalities. Beware of active shooter. God Bless All!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 27, 2018
Trump added in brief comments to journalists that something “has to be done” about the atmosphere of hatred in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world, suggesting, as he has in the past, that armed guards inside the synagogue may have created a different outcome in Saturday’s tragedy.
Trump: "It's just a shame. To watch this and to see this, for so many years, so much of it, is absolutely a shame."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 27, 2018
Vice President Mike Pence tweeted that the White House was monitoring the event:
Monitoring reports of shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. Praying for the fallen, the injured, all the families impacted, and our courageous first responders. God bless them all.
— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) October 27, 2018
The L’Simcha Congregation at Tree of Life is a conservative congregation, and its members were worshiping Saturday at the synagogue. There were three simultaneous services being held there synagogue, according to reports.
Breaking: @MalcolmNance on active shooter in Pittsburgh #MSNBC pic.twitter.com/znU5M8xTvO
— La Femme Nikita (@nicolenavega) October 27, 2018
Check back for updates on this developing story.
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