11 Dead, 6 Wounded in Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting

A gunman entered a Pittsburgh synagogue during Saturday services, killing 11 worship attendees and wounding six other people, including four police officers, before he was taken into custody

• By Jessica Davis
• Oct 29, 2018

A gunman entered a Pittsburgh synagogue during Saturday services, killing 11 worship attendees and wounding six other people, including four police officers, before he was taken into custody. Among other charges, federal hate crime charges have been filed against the suspect in what is believed to have been an anti-Semitic act.

At the time of the attack Saturday morning, the weekly Shabbat services were getting underway at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh’s predominantly Jewish Squirrel Hill neighborhood. The gunman, armed with an assault rifle and three handguns, entered the synagogue at about 9:50 a.m. and opened fire. He reportedly made multiple anti-Semitic comments during his attack.

The first 911 call came from someone inside the building about 4 minutes after the gunman began attacking, and 10 minutes after the attack began, at 10 a.m., the first responding police officers arrived. The two officers encountered the suspect and they exchanged fire. The suspect reentered the synagogue and more officers, including a SWAT team, began to arrive.

The SWAT team entered the building at 10:29 a.m. and encountered the gunman almost 20 minutes later. The suspect opened fire on them until he was cornered, convinced to surrender, and taken into custody.

Three police officers were shot and one was injured by shrapnel, according to authorities. Two of the six people injured were listed as being in critical condition.

The FBI is leading the investigation. FBI Special Agent Bob Jones, director of the FBI’s Pittsburgh office, said, “This is the most horrific crime scene I’ve seen in 22 years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

The Anti-Defamation League and Jewish Council for Public Affairs described it as the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in U.S. history.