Gunman attacks Pittsburgh synagogue, killing 11 people

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A shooter opened fire during a baby naming ceremony at a Pittsburgh synagogue on Saturday, killing 11 and wounding six others, including four police officers who dashed to the scene, authorities said.

Wendell Hissrich, Allegheny Director of Public Safety, says 11 people are dead after the shooting and that the FBI has taken over the investigation, which is being treated as a hate crime.

At a Saturday afternoon press conference, Dr. Don Yealy, with the University of Pittsburgh Department of Emergency Medicine, says the four officers sustained injuries ranging from soft tissue injuries to gunshot wounds to their limbs. He says two worshipers were also transported to a local hospital with injuries. A 70-year-old man is in critical condition after being hit in the abdomen and has undergone one emergency operation since this morning with more scheduled today. Also, a 61-year-old woman is “doing well and recovering” after suffering some kind of “soft tissue” injury.

The gunman is also in the hospital with gun shot wounds after exchanging fire with police.  A law enforcement official identified the suspect as Robert Bowers and said he is in his 40s. The official wasn’t authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

It comes amid a rash of high-profile attacks in an increasingly divided country, including the series of pipe bombs mailed over the past week to prominent Democrats and former officials. It is unclear how many people were killed Saturday.

 

The attack took place during a baby naming ceremony, according to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro. No children were harmed during the incident.

The synagogue is located at the intersection of Wilkins and Shady avenues. The tree-lined residential neighborhood of Squirrel Hill, about 10 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh, is the hub of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community.

Until the suspect was taken into custody, the neighborhood and all synagogues in the city were in a lockdown, with people ordered to remain indoors.

President Trump speaks on the shooting

Trump is keeping updated on the incident and tells reporters the situation at the synagogue may have turned out differently had there been someone “to protect” the worshipers, alluding that armed personnel could have prevented the shooting.

“They had a maniac walk in and they had no protection,” he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland before boarding a flight to Illinois, where he is scheduled to attend a rally for the upcoming midterm election on Nov. 6.

He also wants to see stiffer death penalty laws implemented as punishment for mass shootings.

“They should pay the ultimate price, I have felt that for a long time,” he adds.

Tweeting from the site of the shooting, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf says the state will supply any resources needed. He also says the United States “cannot accept this violence as normal.”