Pittsburgh authorities have released the identities of all 11 victims, aged 54 to 97, who were gunned down while worshiping at a synagogue on Saturday morning.
Joyce Fineburg, 75, Richard Godfriede, Jerry Rebinowitz, 66, Cecil Rosenthal, 59, David Rosenthal, 54, Bernice Simon, 84, Sylvan Simon, 86, Daniel Stein, 71, Melvin Wax, 88, and 69-year-old Irvin Younger were identified as the 11 victims by Chief Medical Examiner Dr Karl Williams Sunday morning.
David and Cecil Rosenthal were brothers and Sylvan and Bernice Simon were husband and wife. Stein, who had recently become a grandfather, was identified as the first victim by relatives on Saturday.
Robert Gregory Bowers killed the victims inside the Tree of Life Synagogue on Saturday during worship services before a tactical police team tracked him down and shot him, police said in an affidavit, which contained some previously unreported details on the shooting and the police response.
Bowers told officers that Jews were committing genocide and that he wanted them all to die, according to the charging document.
Calls began coming in to 911 from the synagogue just before 10am Saturday, reporting ‘they were being attacked,’ the document said.
‘We’re under fire. He’s got an automatic weapon and firing at us from the synagogue,’ one officer is heard saying.
Bowers shot one of the first two officers to respond in the hand, and the other was wounded by ‘shrapnel and broken glass’.
At one point, officers told dispatchers that they needed to ‘evacuate some of these hostages’.
Pittsburgh synagogue shooting suspect, Robert Gregory Bowers, 46, told officers that Jews were committing genocide and that he wanted them all to die after he killed 11 worshipers Saturday
Calls began coming in to 911 from the synagogue just before 10am Saturday, reporting ‘they were being attacked,’ the document said. ‘We’re under fire. He’s got an automatic weapon and firing at us from the synagogue,’ one officer is heard saying
Bowers shot one of the first two officers to respond in the hand, and the other was wounded by ‘shrapnel and broken glass’
They reported seeing a ‘spent magazine’ that they believed came from a high-powered AK47.
‘I got one alive,’ one officer is heard telling dispatchers moments later.
‘We’re evac’ing one right now, still alive. We have at least four down in the atrium DOA at this time,’ the officer continued.
About four minutes later, the officers report finding four more bodies and rescue two more people, a man and a woman, from the basement.
The man and woman were wounded by Bowers, but they were in stable condition, the document said.
A tactical team found Bowers on the third floor just before 11am, where he shot two officers multiple times, the affidavit said.
‘Contact! Contact! Shots fired! Shots fired!’ an officer shouts. The officer then said another officer had been shot.
One officer was described as critically wounded; the document did not describe the other officer’s condition.
By 11:08am, Bowers surrendered after he had been wounded by police. He put his hands in the air and crawled out from a barricade he had been hiding behind while firing on the officers.
Bowers then told an officer while he was being treated for his injuries ‘that he wanted all Jews to die and also that they (Jews) were committing genocide to his people,’ the affidavit said.
The entire incident, from when he entered the synagogue to when he was removed, lasted 20 minutes.
Bowers was later charged with 29 felonies, including 11 counts of murder and hate crimes, for storming the synagogue in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, and gunning down the helpless members of the congregation worshiping during their Sabbath.
Scott W. Brady, the US Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, announced the charges late Saturday, about 12 hours after Bowers opened fire inside the synagogue.
The other counts include weapons offenses and charges alleging Bowers seriously injured police officers while obstructing the exercise of religious beliefs.
During a press conference on Sunday, Brady told reporters that Bowers will ‘be held fully accountable’ for his ‘hateful’ crimes.
FBI Special Agent Robert Jones confirmed that Bowers is still in the hospital after undergoing surgery and is under the watch of police. Authorities said they believe he acted alone in the horrific shooting.
As the investigation continues, Jones said authorities have searched Bowers’ home in Baldwin, Pennsylvania, and will be conducting a search on his vehicle Sunday.
Jones did not release any information on what was found in Bowers’ home.
Wendell Hissrich, the Pittsburgh Public Safety Director, said during the press conference that the area surrounding the synagogue will remain closed off for at least a week.
Extra patrols have also been assigned to various locations throughout the city.
Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert confirmed that one injured officer has been released from the hospital.
Schubert said a second officer may be released later on Sunday, but two other officers remain in the hospital for further treatment.
They reported seeing a ‘spent magazine’ that they believed came from a high-powered AK47. ‘I got one alive,’ one officer is heard telling dispatchers moments later. An FBI agent stands behind a police cordon and an ambulance outside the Tree of Life Synagogue
Bowers then told an officer while he was being treated for his injuries ‘that he wanted all Jews to die and also that they (Jews) were committing genocide to his people,’ the affidavit said. An hour before the first reports emerged of the shooting, Bowers posted this on the social media website Gab
Among his antisemitic comments on the social network Gab are complaints about President Donald Trump
Bowers also shared photographs of his Glock collection on the website. He used several handguns and an AR-15 in the attack. His cover photo (right) included the white supremacist number 1488
The suspect, who spewed anti-Semitic hatred on social media in the hours before the attack, also shot and wounded six others, including four police officers.
Earlier on Saturday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that the federal government would seek the death penalty.
President Donald Trump echoed that sentiment, though he doesn’t believe that gun control would have prevented the tragedy.
Trump said Saturday that Bowers should pay the ‘ultimate price’.
He told reporters that Bowers, and other people accused of similar sickening crimes, should not wait on death row for ‘years and years’ and should be executed ‘quickly’ and ‘without legal wrangling’.
Trump then told the crowd at a rally in Murphysboro, Illinois, that the ‘evil’ shooting was an ‘assault on humanity’, and ordered all flags at federal buildings across the country to be flown at half-staff as a sign of respect.
Bowers has been charged in state court, and if found guilty would be eligible to receive the lethal injection in Pennsylvania and by the federal government.
The federal government reinstated the death penalty in 1988. Since then, the government has put to death three convicts. There are currently 62 prisoners on death row awaiting execution.
Daniel Stein, who went to Sabbath services at the synagogue on his own, is presumed dead, his family says
Daniel Leger, 70, is listed in critical condition and underwent two surgeries at a local hospital after he was shot in the chest, his brother said
The president speculated that the death toll in Pittsburgh would have been curbed if an armed guard had been in the building.
Trump said gun control ‘has little to do with it’ but ‘if they had protection inside, the results would have been far better.’
But the attack did not persuade him that tighter gun controls are needed.
‘This is a case where, if they had an armed guard inside, they might have been able to stop him immediately,’ Trump said during a speech to young farmers in Indianapolis.
‘Maybe there would have been nobody killed, except for him, frankly. So it’s a very, very – a very difficult situation.’
In previous mass shootings, Trump has at times said he would consider tightening gun laws but in the main has called for more armed guards in places such as schools.
‘The world is a violent world,’ he said before his speech.
President Trump said lawmakers ‘should very much bring the death penalty into vogue’ and people who kill in places such as synagogues and churches ‘really should suffer the ultimate price’
‘And you think when you’re over it, it just sort of goes away, but then it comes back in the form of a madman, a wacko. … They had a maniac walk in and they didn’t have any protection and that is just so sad to see, so sad to see.’
Trump said lawmakers ‘should very much bring the death penalty into vogue’ and people who kill in places such as synagogues and churches ‘really should suffer the ultimate price.’
Bowers, a Trump-hating anti-Semite, regularly complained on social media about the president and ‘the infestation of Jews’.
The synagogue was busier than usual with Sabbath services and because of a bris, the Jewish ceremony which involves an infant’s circumcision, that had also been scheduled.
After opening fire on the congregation with three handguns and an AR-15, he was confronted by two Pittsburgh police officers who had been called to the scene as he tried to leave the building.
Police say Bowers returned fire, injuring both of the cops, then retreated inside and ran to the third floor to hide.
He then engaged in a gun battle with a SWAT team and injured two of them before being shot multiple times himself and surrendering.
Daniel Leger, 70, a retired nurse and chaplain who is an active member of Dor Hadash congregation, was critically wounded, his brother, Paul Leger, told TribLive.
Police revealed on Saturday afternoon that all of those killed were adults and that no children were harmed.
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said the names of the victims will be released on Sunday morning at 9am. Prosecutors have also scheduled a Sunday morning news conference to discuss the case.
Police vehicles are deployed near the vicinity of the home of Pittsburgh synagogue shooting suspect Robert Bowers’ home in Baldwin
More emergency vehicles are seen blocking the road near Bowers’ home in Baldwin on Saturday
Peduto said there was ‘really strong insistence by the FBI that we identify everybody with 100% accuracy before giving out any information, for the families’ sake’.
The mayor said security was being tightened at Muslim places of worship as well as religious centers that ‘would feel insecure or would need additional security’.
The six people injured include a 70-year-old man who is undergoing surgery for multiple gunshot wounds and a 61-year-old woman who is expected to survive.
Three of the four cops are likely to survive but a fourth, a 55-year-old law enforcement officer, is in a critical condition.
Little is known about Bowers but he made no attempt to conceal his antisemitism on the social media website Gab, beloved by users because it promises never to censor them or hinder their free speech.
In response to the shooting, the online payment giant PayPal announced that it has banned Gab, according to The Verge.
Paramedics race to get a victim from Saturday’s shooting to the hospital outside the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh
Jewish residents who live near the synagogue are seen outside after the shooting
Members of the community gather outside the Tree of Life Congregation synagogue on Saturday morning after the attack
Rabbi Hazzan Jeffrey Myers (left), who was likely leading the Sabbath service, escaped the gunman on Saturday morning
EMTs work at the scene of the mass shooting on Saturday at the Tree of Life Congregation synagogue
Kate Rothstein (left) looks on as Tammy Hepps and Simone Rosthein hug outside the synagogue in Squirrel Hill on Saturday
Gab responded by releasing a statement on Medium condemning the shooting while denying that it encourages terrorism or violence.
‘Gab.com’s policy on terrorism and violence have always been very clear: we a have zero tolerance for it,’ the company said. ‘Gab unequivocally disavows and condemns all acts of terrorism and violence.’
Apple refuses to host Gab in its iOS store while Google banned the app from its Google Play store for violating the company’s hate speech policy.
A post made on the site’s Twitter account on Saturday appeared to revel in the attention prompted by the killings, saying: ‘We have been getting 1 million hits an hour all day.’
Bowers, who has a home in Baldwin, Pennsylvania, had an active gun license and has bought six firearms since 1996.
Denise Fulton cries as she speaks with Bishop David Zubick at the scene of the mass shooting on Saturday
A woman holds a candle during a vigil in Squirrel Hill on Saturday to remember those that died in the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting
Deb Polk holds a sign as she gathers with others for a vigil in the aftermath of the deadly shooting
Crowds gathered at the intersection of Murray Avenue and Forbes Avenue in Pittsburgh for a vigil that was held at Sixth Presbyterian Church
More than 3,000 people from the Pittsburgh community gathered for the candlelight vigil on Saturday night
People sang and held candles during the gathering at Murray and Forbes avenues in Pittsburgh
Braddock, Pennsylvania, Mayor John Fetterman hugs a person as they gather for the vigil on Saturday
An hour before Bowers arrived at the synagogue he posted this chilling message on Gab.com: ‘I’m going in.’
He was enraged by HIAS, the Hebrew Immigration Aid Society which helps Jewish migrants settle in the US, which he accused of bringing ‘invaders in that kill our people’.
‘I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in,’ he wrote.
Two days ago, he said there was no ‘MAGA as long as there is a k*** [ethnic slur for a Jewish person] infestation’.
A photograph at the top of Bowers’ profile showed a machine with the numbers 1488 – a prolific white supremacist symbol – on it.
He also previously wrote that he had never voted for Trump, ‘nor have I owned, worn or even touched a maga hat’. Bowers also said Trump is ‘a puppet for Jewish interests’.
Bowers recently posted a photo of a collection of three black semi-automatic handguns he titled ‘my glock family,’ a reference to the Austrian firearms manufacturer.
He also posted photos of bullet holes in person-sized targets at a firing range, touting the ‘amazing trigger’ on his weapon.
After killing people on the main floor, the shooter went downstairs, where the New Light congregation was gathering in the basement, and opened fire there.
Dor Hadash, a third, smaller group, was gathered in the rabbi’s study to the side of the Tree of Life’s congregation.
The first cops on the scene exchanged fire with him and two were shot.
Two SWAT team members were then shot during a gun battle with Bowers as the suspect tried to fight them off from the third floor.
After being injured himself in the crossfire, Bowers surrendered to police.
Local officials described the scene as ‘horrific’ and cried as they gave an update on the shooting on Saturday afternoon.
The FBI special agent in charge who is investigating the shooting described it as the worst crime scene he had encountered in 22 years of service.
The vigil was held just as the Jewish Sabbath was ending and observant Jews were first learning of the massacre at the synagogue
The vigil was organized by students from nearby Allderdice High School, a public high school in Squirrel Hill
The mayor of Pittsburgh said that the names of the deceased will be released on Sunday morning
Amy Gilligan hugs her daughter at the intersection of Murray Ave. and Forbes Ave in Pittsburgh on Saturday
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the federal government would seek the death penalty and file hate crimes charges against the alleged gunman
President Donald Trump condemned the shooting as an ‘evil anti-Semitic attack’
Matthew Chinman, 49, of Squirrel Hill, hugs a fellow community member during the vigil on Saturday night
A young boy holds up a sign that reads ‘Hate and violence are not the answer’ at the vigil in Pittsburgh
Trump said lawmakers ‘should very much bring the death penalty into vogue’ and people who kill in places such as synagogues and churches ‘really should suffer the ultimate price’
President Trump said he plans to visit Pittsburgh in the near future. A crowd is seen gathering at an intersection for the vigil on Saturday night
A large interfaith memorial service was held at the Sixth Presbyterian Church in Squirrel Hill on Saturday
‘We pray for those who perished and their loved ones,’ Presiden Trump tweeted
Trump called the shooting an ‘evil anti-Semitic attack’ and ‘an assault on humanity’
After tweeting that the situation was ‘devastating’, President Trump said on Saturday that it would not have happened if the synagogue had had its own security.
He called for the shooter to be sentenced to death and spoke about making capital punishment ‘in vogue’.
He took a stronger tone in a later speech where he described it as a ‘twisted act of malice’.
The president also tweeted on Saturday: ‘All of America is in mourning over the mass murder of Jewish Americans at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
‘We pray for those who perished and their loved ones, and our hearts go out to the brave police officers who sustained serious injuries.
‘This evil Anti-Semitic attack is an assault on humanity.
‘It will take all of us working together to extract the poison of Anti-Semitism from our world.
‘We must unite to conquer hate.’
Bowers started his killing in the main chapel where the Tree of Life congregants were gathered.
He shot randomly, according to survivors, then made his way down to the basement where one of the other two groups was.
After killing between those two floors, he made his way to the third floor.
By then, SWAT teams had arrived at the scene. Bowers was injured in the battle and surrendered to police by crawling to them. He was taken to the hospital.
Speaking afterwards, Wendell Hissnich, Pittsburgh Director of Public Safety, fought back tears as he described the scene inside.
‘It’s a very horrific crime scene. It’s one of the worst that I have seen and I have been on plane crashes. It is very bad,’ he said.
People hug outside the synagogue on Saturday morning after the shooting
Police and EMTs are pictured outside the Tree of Life Congregation Synagogue in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, on Saturday after an antisemitic gunman opened fire, murdering at least eight people and injuring many others
Armed police are pictured entering the Tree of Life Congregation Synagogue in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, on Saturday after a shooting which claimed at least eight lives
SWAT teams are pictured at the Tree of Life Congregation synagogue in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, on Saturday after a shooter opened fire
The scene at the Tree of Life Congregation Synagogue in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, on Saturday
This is the view inside the synagogue on an ordinary day. It is unknown how many people were inside when the gunman opened fire but it was busier than usual, with worshipers observing the Sabbath. Some were also there to attend a ceremony either for a bris, an infant’s circumcision, or a baby naming ceremony
One woman, whose daughter was inside at the time, told CNN: ‘They heard the shots and they all, her friend’s mom and dad and son, they just all ran downstairs I guess and barricaded themselves in the basement.
It’s a very horrific crime scene… it’s one of the worst that I have seen and I have been on plane crashes. It is very bad
Wendell Hissnich, Pittsburgh Director of Public Safety
‘They kept hearing gunfire and everything else.’
Another man rushed to the scene to try to get his elderly father-in-law to safety.
He told reporters: ‘My father-in-law was inside, I got married in this place, this is crazy.
‘This is unbelievable. People have to stop the hate. They have to stop.’
President Trump spoke about the atrocity as he boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews.
He asked why the synagogue did not have its own security and suggested that fewer would have died had an armed guard been stationed there.
‘If there was an armed guard inside the temple that would have been able to stop him, maybe there would have been nobody killed except from him.
‘We can look at it two ways. But if they had somebody to protect people… isn’t it a shame that we even have to speak that way?
‘That we even have to think that way inside a temple… but certainly the results should have been better,’ he said.
Asked if he thinks every place of worship should have armed security, Trump replied: ‘I hate to think of it that way.
‘It’s certainly an option. This world, this is a world with a lot of problems and it has been for many years, many many years, and you could say for many centuries but certainly you want protection and they didn’t have protection.
‘They had a maniac walk in and the didn’t have any protection and it’s so sad to see. So sad to see.
‘It’s a very difficult thing for me to stand as president and watch.
‘Before I ran for office, I watched instances like this and I’d say, ‘what a shame, what a shame.’ It’s tougher when you’re the president of the United States and you have to watch this kind of thing happen. It’s so sad to see.’
Former rabbi Chuck Diamond (left) said on Saturday that he always feared there would be a shooting at the synagogue when he worked there. The synagogue’s former president Michael Eisenberg (right) said he was working on ways to make it easier to escape so that people could flee in the event of a shooting
Police rapid response team members at the scene of the shooting on Saturday. Some were engaged in a gun fight with the shooter before he was taken into custody
Squirrel Hill residents return to their home arm in arm after going to the synagogue to see what had happened after the shooting on Saturday morning
An armed police officer at the scene of the shooting on Saturday after the suspect had been taken into custody
Wendell Hissnich, Pittsburgh Director of Public Safety, (left) fought back tears as he described the ‘horrific’ crime scene which he said was worse than some plane crashes he had investigated. Right, Bishop David Zubik of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh went to the scene to condemn the violence
He praised the ‘outstanding’ law enforcement and said the gunman was able to get access when he shouldn’t have been because of the lack of security.
‘You look at the violence all over the world. It comes back in the form of a mad man, a wacko. We should stiffen up our laws in terms of the death penalty, they shouldn’t have to wait years and years.
‘I think they should stiffen up laws and bring the death penalty in to vogue,’ he said.
Vice President Mike Pence later said: ‘What happened in Pittsburgh today was not just criminal, it was evil.
‘An attack on innocent Americans and an assault on our freedom of religion.
‘There is no place in America for violence or antisemitism and this evil must end.’
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also released a statement, saying: ‘Today’s tragic shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh was a cowardly act, driven by hate.
‘The Senate stands with all Americans to condemn the evil of bigotry in all its forms.’
‘As the Pittsburgh community mourns, our prayers are with the victims and their families, and our sincere gratitude is with the first responders who work to project and save lives every day.’
Former President Barack Obama tweeted on Saturday: ‘We grieve for the Americans murdered in Pittsburgh.
‘All of us have to fight the rise of anti-Semitism and hateful rhetoric against those who look, love, or pray differently.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also released a statement, saying: ‘Today’s tragic shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh was a cowardly act, driven by hate’
Former President Barack Obama tweeted on Saturday: ‘We grieve for the Americans murdered in Pittsburgh’
‘And we have to stop making it so easy for those who want to harm the innocent to get their hands on a gun.’
There was no security at the Tree of Life on Saturday, with former synagogue leaders describing how it operates an open-door policy for worshipers and only puts security on for significant holy days despite fears among community leaders that such a shooting was on the horizon.
‘On a day today the door is open you can walk in an out. Like most religious institutions, we have an open door,’ the synagogue’s former president, Michael Eisenberg, told CBS Pittsburgh.
He added that security had been a ‘major’ concern for him in the past and that he was working with the government to improve escape routes and emergency procedures.
‘It was a major concern for me, for us.
‘We were working with the DHS to evaluate exit routes, I just spoke to our maintenance person who was able to get out.
The synagogue is located in Squirrel Hill which is also home to Carnegie Mellon University and Chatham University. It is a hub for the Jewish community in Pittsburgh
The scene remained taped off on Saturday as the investigation into the shooting continued
‘We were working with the other synagogues on what to do if this happened,’ he said.
He said of the building’s maintenance man, who witnessed Saturday’s shooting and escaped through one of the exit doors,: ‘He was shaken, he saw one of our congregants down, he knew, he was in the bathroom and he was able to get out of the building.’
A former rabbi said he was grateful that many of the congregants often arrived late for morning services and that he was grateful on this occasion.
‘I thought about it all the time I have to tell you when I was there I always had the thought in the back of my had unfortunately in the world we live in,’ the former rabbi said.
The area was put on lock down, with any residents living nearby told to lock their doors and not go outside. Witnesses are still being interviewed by police at the scene.
The shooting happened at the Tree of Life Congregation Synagogue in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, on Saturday morning (file image)