Posted on 10/27/2018 1:45:26 PM PDT by Kaslin
UPDATES: Sadly, both the death and injury tolls have risen. This on social media from the Times.
11 fatalities, no children in Pittsburgh shooting, authorities announce. 6 injured, including 4 police officers, but not the shooter.
— Trip Gabriel (@tripgabriel) October 27, 2018
Our prayers for all the victims’ family and friends.
***
We previously noted there were suggestions that the shooter’s social media accounts contained blatant antisemitic threats. That’s been confirmed now as the NY Post reports.
The man who killed eight people at a Pittsburgh synagogue was a virulent anti-Semite who apparently posted, “Screw your optics. I’m going in,” just hours before entering the house of worship with guns blazing.
The guy demonstrates plenty of racist attitudes as his former employer attested to, but he clearly had it in for the Jews.
Earlier:
While originally only two handguns were reported, the shooter used an AR-15 in the initial attack.
Pittsburgh synagogue gunman opened fire with an AR-15 before surrendering https://t.co/9ea7WiiVXt
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) October 27, 2018
Also, a phone number has been set up for any questions from family members of the victims. (412)-432-4400.
Original post continues:
The shooting this morning at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh was a particularly grisly one. With eight dead and an unknown number of injuries, including three police officers, the motivation for this mass shooting seems clear. Police on the scene have confirmed to local media that the shooter is in custody. He’s a white male with a beard named Robert Bowers. According to the reporters on the scene, one officer stated that Bowers entered the synagogue with multiple weapons, shouting, “All Jews must die” before opening fire. (KDKA Pittsburgh)
Eight people have been killed and a number of others injured after a shooting situation at The Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill on Saturday.
KDKA’s Meghan Schiller reports that a suspect, a heavy-set white male with a beard, has surrendered. The SWAT team had been talking with the suspect, and he was crawling and injured. It is unclear the extent of his injuries.
KDKA sources confirm the suspect is Robert Bowers.
This guy knew precisely the time to attack to achieve the most fatalities. There were three congregations’ services taking place on the premises at the same time with nearly 100 people in the building. When Bowers surrendered he allegedly had one handgun in his waistband and another strapped above his ankle. There were conflicting reports coming out as to whether he had more weapons with him.
We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves at this point. Rumors about some of Bowers’ social media posts were making the rounds immediately, but you know how those go in the early hours after an attack such as this. The one thing which we can safely say based on law enforcement accounts is that Bowers is a vicious antisemite. Whether or not he belongs to any hate groups will no doubt become evident in the hours and days to come.
God bless you for carrying. What a sad world and I agree with your criticisms. We are lost.
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Half of our country is bat shit crazy, the other half is told that we must be tolerant of it and not hurt its feelings....
This is horrific. Absolutely horrific.
However, we should also recognise that it puts those on the Right in a spot. Conservatives over the next few weeks will have to have the backbone to resist the inevitable calls for gun control and restricting free speech which will now be masked under accusations of “anti-Semitism” if you resist them. And yes, many of these calls will come from leftist groups which also happen to be Jewish in origin/membership, such as the ACLU, SPLC, JDL, etc.
Conservatives will need to be smart, savvy, and disciplined enough to resist both the crazy Nazis who kill Jews (the easy part) AND left-wingers who will use their Jewishness as a bludgeon and an excuse to take away our rights.
Yes...
It has got to be the educational system as taken over by the evil Howard Zinn...or part of the problem...
He is a self-professed nationalist and a socialist. If the shoe fits...
Shooters social media indicates he is a Socialist just like the Bernshevik that shot up the ball field in DC....He is vehemently anti-Trump claiming he too is controlled by Jews.
...He’s an extreme nutcase!
If they do respond it will be highly and carefully measured.
Very ugly indeed.People can’t even attend a house of worship without fearing for their lives.
Since he was armed with an assault rifle and three handguns....without doubt this murderer’s intentions were to take ‘many’ lives in his killing spree regardless if children or adults...
Though he was shot multiple times before being taken into custody too bad they didn’t finish him off. Good reason to bring back the death penalty pronto.....without numerous appeals.
Laz...that’s really sick!
POTUS Trump is talking to Reporters at the Airport in Illinois.
The wonderful Press is badgering him and trying to blame him for the Shooting. It’s all about his “tone” you know.
Please tell me PA has the death penalty.
There is a method to my madness.
This is a mockery of those who are intimately involved in the preparations of these mass shootings, with the hope that the mockery and exposure will dissuade them.
Exposure will go a long way towards heading these sorts of things off.
Not if it's honest, as I mentioned.
Few respond honestly.....they’re politicians and officials whose primary goal is not to make matters worse than they are.....
The current rabbi there is anti-gun as seen from his past social media posts, apparently to the degree that even the presence of an armed guard would be out of the question.
Maybe he'll change his mind now.
An armed guard would have been outgunned and would have been subject to a surprise attack since the shooter would have known to attack him first (or alternatively you might argue would have meant he avoided this synagogue for an easier target). The best solution would have been for some of the trusted members of the congregation to be CCW holders, entrusted by the rabbi to serve as voluntary undercover security.
I don't know if CCW is "permitted" there.
Their leaders, yes.... "taqqiya".
But I said "Muslims throughout the world" meaning the candid 'man on the street' opinion.
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