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For 20 terrifying minutes, the police found dead corpses and worshipers injured and exchanged gunfire with a gunman with an assault rifle, said Bob Jones, the Special Agent of the FBI in charge of the Pittsburgh office.
"It's the most horrible crime scene I've seen for 22 years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation," Jones said.
Dozens of people had arrived at the Synagogue of the Tree of Life that morning to celebrate Saturday Sabbath services. At dawn on Sunday, the crowds stormed the streets of Squirrel Hill despite the rain to light candles and mourn the 11 people who were killed there.
The attack would be the deadliest for a Jewish community in the history of the United States, said the Anti-Defamation League in a statement. The authorities believe that the suspect acted alone.
"We simply can not accept this violence as an integral part of American life," Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf told reporters late Saturday. "These senseless acts of violence are not what we are as Pennsylvanians and are not what we are as Americans."
A hate trail
The 46-year-old resident of the Baldwin suburb used anti-Semitic insults, complained that President Donald Trump was surrounded by too many Jews and blamed the Jews for their 39, help caravans of migrants from Central America. He posted photos of his collection of handguns.
The language on the account matches the alleged motives behind the shooting, said a police source.
Gab, the social media platform, denied any support for acts of terrorism and violence and said its mission is "to defend freedom of expression and individual online freedom for all citizens" . Gab said that he had backed up the suspect's profile data, suspended the account and contacted the FBI.
Bowers constantly posted in the platform. Four hours before the shoot, he posted on Trump. A few minutes before storming the interior of the building, he again connected to Gab and wrote to his supporters.
"I can not sit and watch my people get slaughtered," wrote Bowers. "Fuck your optics, let me in."
A day of worship transformed into chaos
It was a peaceful morning when the neighbors of the Squirrel Hill Jewish Historic District suddenly heard screams and shots from the synagogue. And in a few minutes, the police ran in all directions, urging them to stay inside.
Although it's hard to know how many people were inside the synagogue, Michael Eisenberg, the outgoing president of the Tree of Life congregation, said that close to one hundred people could have attended simultaneous services in three different congregations.
Police said they received several 911 calls around 10 am about an active shooter in the synagogue – only five minutes had passed since Bowers had released his latest message on social media.
An armed man, dressed in a green vest or green jacket, entered the lobby and began firing, police said in radio traffic broadcasts broadcast on Broadcastify.
While the police were heading to the synagogue, they learned that a correspondent had heard 20 to 30 shots in the lobby. People ran and hid in the whole building.
The police first confronted the suspect, a man armed with an "assault rifle", at the time of his departure. Two police officers spotted him and he opened fire on them, according to the criminal complaint filed by the FBI in Jones and in Allegheny County.
He shot in the hand before hiding inside the synagogue, the document said. The other officer was wounded in the face by several shards of glass and broken.
Gunman surrenders
When officers in tactical gear entered the building, they found the bodies of the victims and survivors hiding. They saved at least two people from the basement and rushed to evacuate people while they were looking for the gunman.
SWAT officers found Bowers on the third floor of the building, according to a criminal complaint. They exchanged shots until Bowers surrendered, authorities said.
He was in fair condition Saturday night with multiple gunshot wounds, officials said. It is believed that he was shot dead by the police.
Investigators recovered a rifle and three handguns at the scene of the shooting, Jones said.
Bowers is now facing at least 29 charges of indictment to the federal government, including the use of a firearm to commit murder and several obstacles to the exercise of religious beliefs that led to the murder. death – a hate crime. Authorities said he had killed 11 people – three women and eight men.
"The actions of Robert Bowers represent the worst of humanity," said US Attorney Scott W. Brady.
Bowers could be sentenced to death if he is found guilty of a hate crime.
He was also charged with 11 state offenses, including an attempted homicide and aggravated assault, according to a criminal complaint.
"These incidents usually happen in other cities," Wendell Hissrich, public safety director for Pittsburgh, told reporters Saturday afternoon. "Today, the nightmare has fallen on the city of Pittsburgh."
Two police officers, two SWAT officers and two others were injured during the shooting, Hissrich said. No children were killed, he said.
Five victims were being treated at two Pittsburgh hospitals, health officials said. An injured man was treated and released, they said.
Trump: shoot more devastating than we thought.
"If there was an armed guard inside the temple, they could have stopped it," said Trump before boarding for a flight to Indianapolis.
After landing, Trump told reporters that the shooting was like "an anti-Semitic crime".
"We're learning a lot about it, it seems like it's an anti-Semitic crime, and it's something you do not think you can continue," he said.
Trump had previously stated in a tweet that the shooting was "much more devastating than originally thought".
The president ordered that flags be hoisted to half-staff in the honor of the victims of the synagogue.
Groups from all over the world express themselves
A number of personalities and organizations have issued statements condemning the violence and expressing condolences to the victims and their families.
"The museum reminds all Americans of the dangers of the uncontrolled hatred and anti-Semitism that must be confronted wherever they occur and calls on all Americans to work actively to promote social solidarity and social solidarity. to respect the dignity of all individuals, "said the Holocaust Museum in a press release. declaration.
In his Sunday address, Pope Francis expressed his condolences to the Jewish community in Pittsburgh.
"May the Most High welcome the dead in peace, comfort their families and support the wounded, but in reality we are all hurt by this inhuman act of violence," he said. "May the Lord help us to end the outbursts of hatred that are developing in our society, reinforcing the sense of humanity, respect for life, civic and moral values and a sacred fear of God, which is the love and the father of all. "
In a statement released Saturday, the ADL said the attack would be the deadliest for the Jewish community in the history of the United States.
"It is simply unacceptable that Jews are being targeted during a Saturday morning worship," said the ADL, "and unthinkable it would happen in the United States at this time."
The rabbinical assembly said that an act of hatred against a community was an act of hatred against all.
"This mass murder reminds us that anti-Semitism is increasing in America at an unprecedented rate for decades.This vicious hate crime perpetrated against innocent people through prayer is only the last in date from a scourge of hate-inspired violence in America, "said the group in a statement.
The Orthodox Union and the Rabbinical Council of America issued a joint statement in which they expressed sympathy for the victims of the attack.
"This insane act of anti-Semitic violence was not only a flagrant attack on the Jewish community, but also an attack on the very foundations of civil society and our collective democratic values," said the Executive Vice-President of the Union. orthodox.
CNN's Kara Devlin, Chuck Jonhston, Dakin Andone, Jason Hanna, Joe Sterling, Steve Almasy, Paul P. Murphy and Delia Gallagher contributed to this report.
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