Pittsburgh shooting: Multiple casualties at Squirrel Hill synagogue
The
gunman, who opened fire as the Tree of Life synagogue held a service, was later
taken into custody.
President
Donald Trump said "a lot of people" had been killed and injured in a
"wicked act of mass murder".
The
suspect has not been officially identified but US media have named him as
Robert Bowers, 46.
Federal
investigators are treating the shooting as a hate crime.
Worshippers had
gathered at the synagogue, in the Squirrel Hill neighbourhood, to mark the
Sabbath.
Squirrel
Hill has one of the largest Jewish populations in Pennsylvania and this would
have been the synagogue's busiest day of the week.
According
to reports, a heavy-set white male armed with an assault rifle and two pistols,
entered the building during the Saturday morning service.
Reports say the
gunman barricaded himself in a room at the synagogue.
Emergency
services arrived at the building at about 10:00 local time (14:00 GMT), and
gunshots could be heard.
Pittsburgh's
Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich later confirmed the gunman was in
police custody and was being treated in hospital.
The
crime scene was "horrific", he told reporters. "One of the worst
I've seen, and I've [worked] on some plane crashes. It's very bad," he
added.
US media said he had
shouted "All Jews must die" as he carried out the attack.
Although
his identity has not been confirmed by the authorities, anonymous law
enforcement officials are widely quoted by US media as saying he is 46-year-old
Pittsburgh man Robert Bowers.
Social
media posts by someone of that name are reported to be full of anti-Semitic
comments.
He called the
shooting a "terrible, terrible thing".
"To
see this happen again and again, for so many years, it's just a shame," he
told reporters on Saturday.
He
described the gunman as a "maniac" and suggested the US should
"stiffen up our laws of the death penalty".
"These
people should pay the ultimate price. This has to stop," he said.
Mr Trump added that
the incident had "little to do" with US gun laws. "If they had
protection inside, maybe it could have been a different situation," he
said.
The
president later appeared at the Future Farmers of America Convention in
Indianapolis, saying: "There must be no tolerance for anti-Semitism. It
must be condemned and confronted everywhere and anywhere it appears."
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf said in a statement that the
incident was an "absolute tragedy" and that such acts of violence
could not be accepted as "normal".
He
said: "These senseless acts of violence are not who we are as Americans.
"My
thoughts right now are focused on the victims, their families and making sure
law enforcement has every resource they need."
The Jewish
Federation of Greater Pittsburgh's president, Jeff Finkelstein, said his
"heart goes out to all these families".
"Now
I'm just sad. This should not be happening. Period. It should not be happening
in a synagogue. It should not be happening in our neighbourhood here in
Squirrel Hill," he said.
A
vigil is due to take place in Squirrel Hill at 18:00 local time on Saturday.
The
New York Police Department said it had deployed officers to synagogues
throughout the city as a precaution.
FROM .bbc.com/news/world-us-canada
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