A 19-year-old gunman opened fire inside a Chabad center near San Diego on Shabbos, the last day of Pesach, killing a woman and wounding the rabbi and two others, police said.
The shots rang out inside Chabad of Poway at around 11:30AM, as the congregation had been listening to Krias HaTorah. Inside the lobby, the gunman fatally shot Lori Gilbert-Kaye and grievously injured Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who later required surgery on both hands.
Also wounded was a young girl, 8-year-old Noya Dahan, and her uncle, Almog Peretz, 34. Dahan was hit with shrapnel in the face and leg. Witnesses said Peretz was shot in the leg as he heroically carried young children to safety. The family is originally from Sderot, Israel but had moved due to constant fear of terrorist rockets fired from nearby Gaza.
A witness told CNN affiliate KGTV there were six or seven shots followed by screams and then another volley of shots. The witness said the wounded rabbi tried to calm the gunman and members of the congregation.
There were indications an AR-type assault weapon might have malfunctioned after the gunman, identified as John Earnest, fired numerous rounds inside the Chabad of Poway, San Diego County Sheriff William Gore said.
As the terrorist paused to reload, a Chabad regular and US Military veteran heroically rushed him. An off-duty Border Patrol agent working as a security guard fired at the shooter as he ran away, missing him but striking his getaway vehicle, San Diego County Sheriff William Gore said.
Shortly after fleeing, Earnest called 911 to report the shooting, San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit said. When an officer reached him on a roadway, “the suspect pulled over, jumped out of his car with his hands up and was immediately taken into custody,” Nisleit said.
“In the face of senseless hate we commit to live proudly as Jews in this glorious country,” Rabbi Yonah Fradkin, executive director of Chabad of San Diego County, said in a statement.
“We strongly believe that love is exponentially more powerful than hate. We are deeply shaken by the loss of a true woman of valor, Lori Kaye, who lost her life solely for living as a Jew.”
The shooter, John Earnest, has no criminal record, but investigators were looking into a claim he made in an online manifesto about setting a fire at a mosque in nearby Escondido last month.
California State University, San Marcos, confirmed Earnest was a student on the dean’s list and said the school was “dismayed and disheartened” that he was suspected in “this despicable act.”
There was no known threat after Earnest was arrested, but authorities boosted patrols at places of worship as a precaution, police said.
Donny Phonea, who lives across the street from the synagogue, turned off his power drill and heard someone shout, “Police!” Then he heard three or four shots.
The 38-year-old bank auditor looked over his backyard fence facing the synagogue and saw people hiding behind an electrical box in the parking lot of a neighboring church. At that point, he knew something was “very, very wrong,” went inside and closed his doors and garage.
“I’m a little taken aback,” said Phonea, who moved to Poway two weeks ago. “I moved here because safety was a factor. Poway is very safe.”
President Donald Trump offered his sympathies Saturday, saying the shooting “looked like a hate crime” and calling it “hard to believe.”
“Our entire nation mourns the loss of life, prays for the wounded and stands in solidary with the Jewish community,” Trump said later at a rally in Wisconsin. “We forcefully condemn the evils of anti-Semitism and hate, which must be defeated.”
He praised law enforcement’s “incredible response” and singled out the off-duty Border Patrol agent who “bravely returned fire and helped disrupt the attack and saved so many lives.”
The sheriff said the gun possibly malfunctioned.
The mayor of Poway, who tweeted that he got a call from the president offering help, also denounced what he called a hate crime.
“I want you know this is not Poway,” Mayor Steve Vaus said. “We always walk with our arms around each other and we will walk through this tragedy with our arms around each other.”
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said he joins the community in grief.
“No one should have to fear going to their place of worship, and no one should be targeted for practicing the tenets of their faith,” he said.
Heartbreaking: Woman Killed, Rabbi & 2 Others Wounded At Chabad Center Near San Diego
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