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A man accused of having opened fire in a synagogue in the San Diego area, having killed a woman and injured three others, will be tried, a judge said Friday.
John T. Earnest, 20, will appear in court on October 3 for indictment for murder and attempted murder following the April 27 shooting in Chabad of Poway.
He will also be tried for fire on March 24 at the Dar-ul-Arqam Mosque, also known as the Escondido Islamic Center.
Earnest could be sentenced to death if convicted of murder for hate crime. The San Diego County District Attorney's Office has not yet decided whether it will pursue the death penalty.
THE LEADERS ARE THE FIGHT TO MAKE THE SENSE OF A FATAL ATTACK ON THE SYNAGOGUE
Defendant John Earnest listened to witness Oscar Stewart's testimony at Earnest's preliminary hearing Thursday in San Diego. (John Gibbins / Union San Diego-Tribune via AP, Pool)
Prosecutors say Earnest entered the synagogue on the last day of Passover and killed 60-year-old Lori Gilbert Kaye. Kaye was shot twice and died at the hospital.
The congregational rabbi, Yisroel Goldstein, 57, lost a finger in the shooting. Almog Peretz, 34, and his 8-year-old niece, Noya Dahan, were also injured.
On Thursday, prosecutors heard the gunman calling 911 to warn him, telling a dispatcher that he had shot at the synagogue to save the whites of the Jews.
"They destroy our people. I'm trying to show them that we will not go down without a fight, "said the caller on the 911 registration, who introduced himself as Earnest. "I defend our country against the Jewish people, who are trying to destroy all whites".
This photo taken on April 27 by the video surveillance at Chabad of Poway shows people looking to get in the shelter while a shooting takes place. (Chabad Superior Court of Poway / San Diego via AP)
He said that he would not use his gun against police officers.
Oscar Stewart, 51, who was present during the shootings with his wife and daughter-in-law, said at the hearing that "people were turning around. It was chaos. "
He was standing at the back of the synagogue when gunshots were fired, he said. A veteran of the army and navy who served twice in Iraq, Stewart said that he had rushed to the gunman and had shouted that he was going to kill him to distract him.
He sued after fleeing shooter and retired when border patrol officer Johnathan Morales, who was working for security, fired about five shots at the assailant.
Oscar Stewart, a faithful of the Chabad of Poway synagogue who fought the shooter. (John Gibbins / Union San Diego-Tribune via AP, Pool)
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Earnest was arrested shortly thereafter. He reportedly admitted to being behind the shooting and fire of the mosque two weeks earlier.
Authorities said he had posted an open letter citing his hatred for the Jews and his admiration for a man accused of killing 50 people in Christchurch, New Zealand, in mosques in March.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
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