POWAY – A gunman opened fire and killed a woman, injured three others at a synagogue in California, officials said Saturday.
San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore told a press conference that during the shooting, four individuals were wounded, one succumbed to the wounds while being transported to Palimar hospital. The other three injured are in stable condition, he said.
He added the injured were a female juvenile and two adult men, while an older woman died from her injuries.
John Earnest, who was taken into custody after the assault, is also suspected of setting fire to a mosque in March in nearby Escondido and making references to the New Zealand mosque terror attacks, which killed 50 people, Gore said at a news conference.
The sheriff told the media that the police have detained a 19-year-old man from the city of San Diego over the shooting. He said that investigators were reviewing his social media activity and establishing the legitimacy of an open letter published online.
“We have copies of his social media posts and his open letter and we´ll be reviewing those to determine the legitimacy of it and how it plays into the investigation,” he added.
Gore said that police were called shortly before 11:30 am after the man entered the synagogue and opened fire with an “AR-15 type” weapon, adding that an off-duty border patrol officer was present at the scene who fired at the suspect as he fled and struck his car.
The police told the media that while the officer was placing the 19-year-old male into custody, he clearly saw a rifle on the front passenger seat of the suspect vehicle.
Chabad of Poway synagogue shooter identified as 19-year-old John Earnest: police
At the White House, US President Donald Trump has offered his “deepest sympathies.”
“At this moment it looks like a hate crime, but my deepest sympathies to all those affected and we´ll get to the bottom of it,” he said.
Exactly six months ago in October on Saturday, a gunman opened fire, targeting a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and killed 11 people and wounded four police officers. It was marked as the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the US.
