A gunman suspected to have harboured anti-semitic thoughts Saturday morning has killed 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.
The gunman had opened fire on the congregants, officials reported.
A law enforcement official told CNN the suspect was identified as 46-year-old Robert Bowers.
The gunman is believed to have made anti-Semitic statements during the shooting and targeted Jews in posts on social media that are a focus of the investigation.
According to a federal law enforcement official,
“These incidents usually occur in other cities.”
Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich told reporters Saturday afternoon that, “Today the nightmare has hit home in the city of Pittsburgh.”
Six people were wounded as a result of the shooting, said Hissrich, four of whom were police officers who responded to the scene.
No children were among the dead, he said. The Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and opened fire on the congregants inside, officials said.
American President Donald Trump responded that, “This attack is an assault on all of us. Shooting had little to do with gun laws.”
In his own comment, Vice President Mike Pence said the attack was not just criminal, but evil.
In a broadcast, Pastor John Hagee, Founder and Chairman of Cornerstone Church, a megachurch in San Antonio, Texas, told his partners his ministry stands with the Jewish nation in this time of grieve.
“With hearts full of grief, we stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters all across America today as we mourn the murder of 11 members of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community, he said.
Continuing, he said, “Words cannot sufficiently convey the depth of our heartbreak upon learning a man fueled by vile anti-Semitic hatred burst into a sacred place of worship and attacked families as they prayed, leading to the death of 11 people and injuring multiple others.
“Today, our Jewish brothers and sisters are hugging their children close in anguish as they try to grapple with this evil. Every Jewish mother and father in America faces the daunting task of telling their sons and daughters there are some in this country who want to kill them because they are Jewish.
It is an unthinkable pain and an intolerable reality.
“Now is the time to pray for our friends, to reach out personally with words of comfort and love, and to visibly stand with them against the anti-Semitic poison that fueled this attack. Christians United for Israel was created for such a time as this. This is the moment when we are deeply needed by our friends, and our voices must be heard in this nation.
“We will not tolerate any threats against the Jewish community, and anyone who attacks them must know that millions of Christians are willing to stand between the Jews and their enemies. To attack one of us is to attack all of us.
“Our prayers are with the grieving families of those whose lives were lost, the injured who must live with the physical scars of this event, and every Jewish brother or sister who is in pain and fear today. May they know how much we love them, and may they be comforted by our voices speaking out as one united declaration against anti-Semitism and the hateful violence it spawns,” he concluded.
