Shooting at San Diego-area synagogue wounds at least four; man detained
POWAY, Calif. (Reuters) - A man was detained for questioning in connection with a shooting at a San Diego-area synagogue that left at least four people badly wounded on Saturday, the last day of Passover, according to authorities.
The gun violence at the Congregation Chabad synagogue in the town of Poway, California, about 23 miles (37 km) north of downtown San Diego, unfolded six months to the day after 11 worshippers were killed and six others were wounded by a gunman who stormed a synagogue in Pittsburgh yelling, “All Jews must die.”
Details of the shooting on Saturday near San Diego and the extent of casualties were not immediately clear.
“There are injuries. This is a developing situation,” the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said in a message posted on Twitter from its station in Poway, a city of about 50,000 residents.
A Palomar Medical Center spokesman, Derryl Acosta, told Reuters: “We received four patients at about 12:30 p.m. They are in trauma.” He declined to give any details about their conditions, age or gender. “That’s all I can tell you,” he said.
Poway Mayor Steve Vaus, speaking from a police command center, told CNN he had received an unconfirmed report of one fatality.
The mayor said the attacker did not open fire on a random site but purposely selected the house of worship because it is synagogue.
The sheriff’s office had earlier said deputies were investigating reports of a man with a gun in the area of the Congregation Chabad synagogue. It later said a “man was detained for questioning in connection with a shooting incident” at the synagogue.
In a third tweet, the sheriff’s office wrote that an unspecified number of victims wounded in the shooting were taken to Palomar Medical Center nearby.
“Please respect the medical privacy of victims & their families during this difficult time. Remain clear of the area as this investigation will take several hours,” the tweet said.
Local channel KGTV 10News said at least four victims were transported to hospitals from the synagogue, which was hosting a holiday celebration beginning at 11 a.m. and due to culminate in a final Passover meal at 7 p.m., according to its website.
The sheriff’s department said deputies were called to the area at about 11:30 a.m. local time.
San Diego television station KGTV reported a woman whose husband was still inside the synagogue as saying the victims included the rabbi, another woman and the gunman himself.
A KGTV reporter on the scene also reported neighbors said they heard six to seven gunshots, then screaming, followed by six to seven more shots.
San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit said his officers were assisting the county sheriff’s department.
“No known threats however in an abundance of caution, we will be providing extra patrol at places of worship,” Nisleit wrote on Twitter.
Reporting by Barbara Goldberg and Daniel Wallis in New York, and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Matthew Lewis
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