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At the age of 8, Noya Dahan had already fled rockets into the Gaza Strip, saw her California home vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti, and now she survived a shootout in her synagogue that was left a loved limb, dead rabbi and his uncle shot and wounded.
The youngest victim of Saturday's shootings in Chabad of Poway Synagogue, near San Diego, Noya told ABC News that the security of the place where she felt safe, a synagogue, had been broken.
"I never thought it was going to happen because, as if it was a safe place, you are supposed to feel safe," she said.
ABC News
A day after an alleged 19-year-old gunman, identified by police as John Earnest, opened fire inside the synagogue, transforming a Passover service into what the father Noya describes it as "a war," survivors said, offering details of the bullets, blood, and chaos they witnessed during the latest gun rampage in America.
Noya was hit in the face, near the right cheek and in the right leg by bullet fragments during the attack. She said that she would never forget the power of the shots or the visit of her rabbi, Yisroel Goldstein, who blew profusely with both hands after being shot by the shooter.
"I saw the rabbi jump like crazy, and I could not even imagine …," said Noya. "I felt like in a movie or in a dream or something like that."
Rabbi Goldstein, who founded the synagogue 33 years ago with his wife, said that he was about to prepare to deliver his Passover sermon around 11:30, when he entered the hall and met one of the temple members, Lori Kaye. 60.
ABC News
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I was inches away from death
"She is a member with us since the 90s. She is one of the kindest people, an activist, who is always there to help others, to help the world." It was her mission in the life, just to be out, to show kindness and kindness, "Goldstein told ABC News Sunday.
He said that Kaye was on duty with her husband, Dr. Howard Kaye, and their 22-year-old daughter Hannah.
"She asked me what time was Yizkor," he said about a special prayer for the dead. "Her mother recently passed away and she came to commemorate her."
He said that he had gone to his office to cool off and that on his return, Kaye had confirmed herself the time of the prayer service in Yizkor.
"We looked at each other and smiled at each other," said the rabbi. "I turned to go to the banquet hall where I went to wash my hands and heard the first loud noise."
At first, he did not know if Kaye had fallen or if a table had been spilled.
Lori Gilbert-Kaye / Facebook
"I turned around and saw the shooter standing in position, a rifle moving him towards me," Goldstein said.
He said that he had put both his hands in front of his face in order to protect himself. One bullet sliced his index finger with his right hand and another nearly did the same with his left index finger, he said.
He saw Kaye, mortally wounded, lying on the ground. The bullets continued to fly on either side of him, he said.
"I was inches away from death," Goldstein said. "I turn my back on him and shoot bullets at me, trying to get me down to the banquet hall."
He said he saw a group of children in the banquet hall, including his grandchildren and Noya, and he immediately began to gather them to shelter them from danger.
Courtesy of Peretz Family
Noya's uncle, Almog Peretz, 34, who lives in Israel but is in California on vacation, told ABC News that he was coming out of the banquet hall when he heard the shots and saw the shooter.
"I turned around and I saw him as well as the weapon, the heavy weapon, he looks at me and pulls one by one," he said.
He said that he had taken a 5-year-old daughter who was walking beside him, lifted another child in his arms and started directing up to 20 children through a side door, directing them towards the Rabbi's house next door.
He stated that he did not realize that he had been shot in the back of his right leg until a member of his family realized that The back of the leg of his pants was covered with blood.
His brother-in-law, Noya's father, Israel Dahan, said he was desperately looking for his three children. He first feared the death of one of his daughters who was in the bathroom and sent her brother-in-law to find her.
Israel Dahan, who has moved his family to California to escape the danger of rocket attacks on their former home in the Gaza Strip, said his daughter was frantic but alive.
Sandy Huffaker / AFP / Getty Images
Rabbi Goldstein, who received a call from President Donald Trump while he was speaking with ABC News, said that a US Border Patrol officer, Jonathan, became a member of his congregation, and another member Oscar Stewart, former soldier, confronted the shooter.
"One of the miracles occurred here was that the rifle was stuck," he said about the gunman's gun.
He said that Oscar and Jonathan chased the shooter out of the synagogue. He added that Jonathan, the Border Patrol Officer, had picked up a weapon apparently left by another member of the congregation and opened fire on the suspect, hitting his car while he was driving away.
A K-9 police officer saw the gunman nearby, officials said. The suspect jumped out of his car, raised his hands in the air and was arrested, said San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit at Saturday's conference.
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I really do not feel safe because it's not the first and certainly not the last time that's going to happen
Rabbi Goldstein stated that once the shooter ran away from the synagogue, he went back inside and saw Lori Kaye lying on the floor, unconscious. He added that her husband had entered the hall and fainted.
At first, refusing to see a doctor, Goldstein, his bloody hands wrapped in a prayer garment, addressed his terrified flock.
"I saw images of fear, anger, and despair over my Jewish compatriots …, I sat on the chair and said:" Guys, Am Yisrael Chai & "He said while reciting the sentence in Hebrew for" the people of Israel lives.
"We're alive," he said. he said, he said to the faithful. "We have to stay up. We must be proud of our heritage and not allow any of this terrorism to defeat us. "
Since the shooting, he wondered why he had survived.
"What do I do with that? What do I do with my survival? I think there is a message that I have to share with everyone," he said. he declared. "And we have to get the message across: people need to be aware that anti-Semitism is a reality." This is happening now, as it was before the Holocaust. that the holocaust has begun and that we must and stop it. "
For young Noya, whose home was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti four years ago, life has changed forever.
"I kept dreaming about it, I just could not … dream of something good, just dreaming bad things," she told ABC News. "I really do not feel safe because it's not the first time and certainly not the last time that's going to happen, so now I just know what to do to make things happen. "
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