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PITTSBURGH — At least four people were dead and six injured after a gunman opened fire during a service at a synagogue on Saturday morning, city officials said.
Two law enforcement officials identified the suspect as Robert D. Bowers, 46. The officials requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.
Erika Strbadburger, the city councilwoman for the district that includes the synagogue, the Tree of Life, said Mr. Bowers surrendered to the police after being barricaded in the building and was taken to the hospital.
Wendell D. Hissrich, Pittsburgh’s public safety director, said four police officers were among the injured. He said those injured were in serious or critical conditions and taken to three hospitals. He would not respond to questions at a news conference about how many people had died.
His voice catching, Mr. Hissrich said: “It’s a very horrific crime scene. It’s one of the worst that I’ve seen, and I’ve been on some plane crashes. It’s very bad.”
He said the federal authorities would lead the investigation into the shooting, which he said was being treated as a hate crime.
President Trump said on Twitter that “events in Pittsburgh are far more devastating than originally thought.”
Mr. Trump later addressed reporters at Joint Base Andrews. “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,” he said. “The results are very devastating, you’re seeing the numbers come in.”
He added that if the temple “had some kind of protection” that “it could have been a much different situation.”
Gov. Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania said in a statement that “these senseless acts of violence are not who we are as Americans.”
“We must all pray and hope for no more loss of life,” he said. “But we have been saying ‘this one is too many’ for far too long. Dangerous weapons are putting our citizens in harm’s way.”
Tree of Life is in Squirrel Hill, a quiet, middle-clbad neighborhood in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community.
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who leads the congregation, said in a blog post in July that the government was unable to pbad important laws, such as gun control, to protect citizens.
“Despite continuous calls for sensible gun control and mental health care, our elected leaders in Washington knew that it would fade away in time,” he wrote. “Unless there is a dramatic turnaround in the midterm elections, I fear that that the status quo will remain unchanged, and school shootings will resume.”
Jonathan A. Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, said on Twitter that he was “devastated” by the shooting.
“Jews targeted on Shabbat morning at synagogue, a holy place of worship, is unconscionable. Our hearts break for the victims, their families, and the entire Jewish community,” Mr. Greenblatt wrote.
“We are actively engaged with law enforcement to understand the extent of this anti-Semitic attack and we will work together with communities across the country to push back on prejudice wherever it appears,” he wrote in a second Twitter post.
Brandeis University researchers reported in a 2017 study that the Squirrel Hill neighborhood has “historically been the center of Jewish life in Greater Pittsburgh.”
About 26 percent of the Pittsburgh area’s Jewish households are in Squirrel Hill, while another 31 percent of Jewish households are largely located in neighborhoods around there, according to the report, which was carried out on behalf of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.
About 48 percent of Jewish children in greater Pittsburgh live in Squirrel Hill, according to the study.
Shortly before 11 a.m., residents could still hear loud pops of gunfire. The authorities told residents to stay inside.
Ben Opie, 55, who can see the synagogue from his backyard, said his wife was about to leave the house on Saturday morning to do some volunteer work when SWAT officers approached their home and said there was an active shooter in the synagogue.
“They chased my wife inside,” he said. “They just said get in the house.”
Justin Matase was returning home around 10:30 a.m. when he saw more than 30 police cars along Shady and Wilkins Avenues, he said. Mr. Matase said he lives fewer than 1,000 feet away from the synagogue.
Mr. Matase said the neighborhood is predominantly Jewish, and while he is not part of the congregation, he has many friends who are.
In New York and Los Angeles, the police said there was no “nexus” between the shooting in Pittsburgh and those cities but that the authorities were taking precautionary measures until more is known about the shooting.
“The N.Y.P.D. is deploying heavy weapons teams, including the officers from the Critical Response Command and the Strategic Response Team, to houses of worship across the City,” the New York police said.
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