Pittsburgh shooting: 11 dead in synagogue attack with suspect Rob Bowers to face federal hate crime charges
Mike Pence, Ivanka Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu all release statements condemning attack
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Eleven people have been killed during a mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in what Donald Trump called a "wicked" antisemitic act of mass murder.
Another six people were injured, two of them critically – including four police officers having exchanged fire with the shooter. Among the injured were a 61-year-old woman, a 70-year-old man and a 55-year old police officer. A suspect – later named as Robert Bowers, who is in his 40s – was arrested at the scene and also taken to hospital with multiple gunshot wounds.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions later announced the Justice Department will file hate crimes charges against Mr Bowers, “including charges that could lead to the death penalty".
There were a number of services underway at the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighbourhood, including a baby-naming ceremony or bris, when the active shooter call was placed to police just before 10am.
“It’s a very horrific crime scene,“ Wendell Hissrich, Pittsburgh public safety director, said at the scene. “One of the worst that I’ve seen.” Law enforcement officials said that the shooter was armed with an assault weapon, and three handguns – although it was not clear all were used. Dispatchers on police radio claimed that the shooter made a number of comments during a stand-off with police about wanting to kill Jews.
Federal officials said the shooter went into the synagogue and shot the congregation before being engaged by officers on his way out. Two were shot before the gunman returned into the building to hide from approaching Swat teams. Two Swat officers were injured in a later exchange of gunfire.
The FBI are now leading the federal hate crime investigation. Mr Bowers is said to have been acting alone, with the lead FBI investigator, Bob Jones, saying that officials believed he was unknown to law enforcement before the shooting.
Speaking at a Future Farmers of America convention in Indianapolis, Mr Trump called the shooting a “wicked act of mass murder” that is antisemitic and “pure evil, hard to believe.The president added that antisemitism ”must be confronted anywhere and everywhere it appears".
The FBI say they will now be looking into every facet of the suspect’s life as they seek to pin down a motive. From his home, to his vehicle, to his movements in recent days. However a focus will be his social media output, with accounts under the suspect's name appearing to show a number of antisemitic rants.
A social media post just before the time of the shooting under a profile with the name Robert Bowers said a Jewish refugee organisation, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, “likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in".
Saturday’s mass shooting comes just 10 days before a bitterly fought national midterm election that has divided the country and set Americans on edge, and in a week in which more than a dozen pipe bombs were mailed to critics of Mr Trump.
Mr Trump said on his way to Indianapolis, before a later rally in Illinois: “It’s a terrible, terrible thing what’s going on with hate in our country and frankly all over the world, and something has to be done.”
If you want to see how the day unfolded read our live coverage below.
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The suspect has been named in US media as Robert Bowers, 46.
He is believed to have identified himself to police.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is "heartbroken and appalled" by a shooting attack in a Pittsburgh synagogue that killed at least eight people.
"The entire people of Israel grieve with the families of the dead. We stand together with the Jewish community of Pittsburgh, we stand together with the American people in the face of this horrendous antisemitic brutality and we all pray for the speedy recovery of the wounded," Mr Netanyahu said in a statement.
Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon has released this statement:
It should be mentioned that the police have not confirmed the number of dead yet.
Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter and a special advisor to the White House, has said the US "must unite against hatred & evil"
Vice President Mike Pence is speaking now:
"There is no place in America for violence or antisemitism"
Mr Pence calls on all Americans to "pray".
He calls the shooting "evil".
He says that he agrees with the president that anyone convicted of such a crime "should pay the ultimate price".
Mr Pence calls the shooting "an attack on religious freedom".
Pennsylvania Democratic Senator Bob Casey and Governor Tom Wolf have cancelled a series of campaign events with other state Democratic candidates in light of the shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue on Saturday morning.
The four rallies in Western Pennsylvania, which were to focus on "what's at stake in this election and the importance of getting out to vote on November 6th," were called off with no notice on rescheduling, according to statements from the Casey campaign.
President Donald Trump has said that he will have a "major statement" on the shooting later today.
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