Poway, California synagogue shooting eyewitness: You saw the hate and you saw the murder in his eyes
A 19-year-old man has been charged with one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder in the Poway, California synagogue shooting.
Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein recalled the moment he came “face-to-face” with the 19-year-old accused gunman who opened fire inside a California synagogue, killing a beloved member of the congregation and injuring the Jewish leader and two others on Saturday.
Goldstein told NBC’s “Today” show on Sunday he heard a loud bang before turning around and seeing a man holding a rifle inside Chabad of Poway near San Diego. John Earnest allegedly walked into the synagogue on Sunday and opened fire on worshippers who were celebrating the last day of Passover, according to officials.
“As soon as I walked into the banquet hall, I heard a large bang, a large noise and I didn’t know what that was…and I turned around and I was face-to-face with this murderer, terrorist, who was holding a rifle and looking straight at me,” Goldstein said in a phone interview on “Today.”
“As soon as he saw me he started to shoot toward me and that’s when I put my hands up,” he added. “My finger got blown away.”
The rabbi said the shooter continued to fire several rounds, killing Lori Kaye “right there on the spot.” Audrey Jacobs, who said she was a friend of Kaye, wrote in a Facebook post that the 60-year-old shielded the rabbi from the bullets to save his life.
“You were always running to do a mitzvah (good deed) and gave tzedaka (charity) to everyone. Your final good deed was taking the bullets for Rabbi Mendel Goldstein to save his life,” Jacobs wrote.
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Goldstein recalled turning around as Earnest rained terror inside the synagogue and saw children, including his granddaughter, in the banquet hall.
“I just ran, not even knowing that my fingers were blown off, and hurled all the kids together and got them outside and went into the sanctuary, got everyone out of the sanctuary to safety,” Goldstein said.
An off-duty Border Patrol agent working as a security guard was at the scene and fired at Earnest as he was fleeing, San Diego County Sheriff William Gore said on Saturday. The shot missed Earnest but struck his getaway vehicle, police said.
Flowers and signs sit at a memorial across the street from the Chabad of Poway synagogue, Sunday. (AP)
Goldstein, who lost his finger, and two others were injured in the shooting. Kaye was a “pioneering, founding member” of the congregation, Goldstein said, adding that he was “heartbroken” over her death.
“She’s just such a dear friend. I’ve known her for 33 years and I’m just so heartbroken and saddened by the senseless killing,” Goldstein told "Today."
Earnest was taken into custody after he called 911 to report the shooting, then jumped out of his car with his hands up when an officer pulled him over on the road, police said. Authorities said a search warrant was served at Earnest's home, car and the synagogue and a manifesto written by a person identifying himself as John Earnest is being investigated.
An exterior view of the Altman Family Chabad Community Center at the Chabad of Poway Synagogue Saturday, April 27, 2019, in Poway, Calif. Several people were injured in a shooting at the synagogue. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
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In the manifesto, posted an hour before the attack, the author said he hates “anyone who seeks the destruction of my race” and said he was inspired by last month’s attack on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, that left 50 Muslim worshippers dead.
Saturday’s shooting comes six months after 11 people died and seven others were wounded when Robert Bowers allegedly opened fire inside a Pittsburgh synagogue. It was the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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