California mortal suspect kills California suspect related to arson attack in mosque

POWAY, Calif. (Reuters) – A 19-year-old man who, according to authorities, went to the police shortly after firing a deadly shootout in a Southern California synagogue filled with Sabbath worshipers. is also the subject of an investigation for an unsolved arson in a mosque.

The bandit entered the San Diego suburban synagogue late Saturday morning, the last day of the Passover Jewish week, and opened fire with an assault rifle, killing a woman inside and out. injuring three others, including the rabbi, the authorities told me.

He then fled in a car, escaping an officer from the US Border Patrol who shot the vehicle but missed the suspect, but the suspect stopped and surrendered to the police shortly thereafter. after.

The suspect was later identified as John Earnest, 19, of San Diego, the alleged perpetrator of a "manifesto" alleged to have set fire to a nearby mosque last month and uttered for himself. Inspire the shooter who killed nearly 50 people in two mosques. in New Zealand.

San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said the police and the FBI were investigating Earnest 's "possible involvement" in the arson of March 24 before dawn. at the Escondido Islamic Center, a town about 24 km north of Poway. Nobody was injured during the fire of the mosque.

Gore said Earnest did not have a criminal record.

Saturday's gun violence in the Temple of Congregation Chabad, in the city of Poway, California, about 37 km north of downtown San Diego, took place six months after the day 11 devotees were killed and six others injured by an armed man who stormed the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue shrieks: "All Jews must die."

The assailant in this massacre, which would be the deadliest attack ever perpetrated against Jews on American soil, was also arrested.

Officials from the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said in a statement that the shooter in Saturday's attack would have acted alone and that "there is no known threat to religious gatherings."

But Passover violence took place in the midst of a resurgence of anti-Semitism in the country and abroad and followed a series of deadly attacks on places of worship. in the whole world.

Suicide bombings perpetrated on Easter Sunday in several Sri Lankan churches killed more than 250 people. An armed man who opened fire in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 15, killed 49 people and wounded more than 40, some kneeling in prayer.

Poway Mayor Steve Vaus called Saturday's shooting a "hate crime", saying his assessment was based on statements made by the shooter when he entered the synagogue.

At a press conference later, Gore told reporters, "It is clear that the case is under investigation as a homicide, but we also look at the crimes possible hatred, as well as violations of civil rights by the federal government ".

A raging and violently anti-Semitic anti-Muslim cope written by an individual calling himself John Earnest was found posted on the Pastebin.com online text storage site and the Mediafire.com file storage site. Links to the content of both sources have been posted on the 8chan Internet discussion forum.

In this letter, the author also claimed that the arson caused by the Escondido mosque was attributed by worshipers inside who had been alerted by the smell of smoke. Local media at the time reported that a scribbled message in the alley of the mosque mentioned the New Zealand massacre.

On Saturday, the synagogue was hosting a celebration that was to culminate with a last Passover meal that night. The authorities said that about 100 people were inside the temple, where Saturday's services marking the Jewish Sabbath would have occurred or had just ended.

Eyewitnesses said they heard about a dozen shots, punctuated by the sound of a man shouting inside the temple.

Gore told reporters that four people were shot at and taken to a nearby hospital where a victim, an "older woman", had died. Authorities reported that the rabbi had been operated for the treatment of hand wounds. The sheriff's office said the two other victims, a 34-year-old man and a girl, had been hit by shrapnel but were "fine".