A gunman opened fired in a Pittsburgh synagogue on Saturday morning, killing multiple people.
Initial media reports from the scene suggest at least seven people were killed in or around Tree of Life synagogue in the city’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood. Pittsburgh-based KDKA reports that police exchanged fire with the gunman as they arrived on the scene, with at least two police officers shot.
A suspect has been arrested, though police have not yet released any details. Over police scanners, officers reported that the suspect was shouting “all Jews must die.”
Bari Weiss, a member of The New York Times editorial board, says she was bat mitzvahed at Tree of Life synagogue, which she describes as a “major conservative synagogue” that would have been full for Saturday morning services.
There is an active shooter at Tree of Life in Pittsburgh. Major Conservative synagogue in Squirrel Hill where I was bat mitzvahed. Saturday morning services is the most crowded time of the week. https://t.co/xRSvVxkWtF
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) October 27, 2018
The Tree of Life synagouge was founded more than 150 years ago. Its website describes it as a “a conservative Jewish congregation.”
As always, a word of caution about these early reports of mass casualty incidents. Media, social media, and even law enforcement often get important details wrong, and we continue to await official confirmation of number of victims or any information about the attacker. Still, by all accounts, something awful has happened in Pittsburgh this morning.
This post has been updated throughout.
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