Synagogue shooting suspect pleads not guilty

The truck driver accused of killing 11 people in the Saturday anti-Semitic shooting rampage at a Pittsburgh synagogue pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal charges that could put him on death row. A federal grand jury indicted Robert Bowers, 46, on 44 counts of murder, hate crimes, and other offenses Wednesday. Bowers walked into his court arraignment Thursday with his left arm heavily bandaged from wounds he received in a gun battle with police. He was in a wheelchair at his first court appearance Monday. He emphatically said yes when asked if he understood the charges. One of Bowers’ federal public defenders, Michael Novara, said his client’s not guilty plea “is typical at this stage of the proceedings.”

When announcing the grand jury’s findings Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said, “Our office will spare no resource, and will work with professionalism, integrity and diligence, in a way that honors the memories of the victims.” Rabbi Jeff Myers of the Tree of Life Congregation is presiding over five funerals for seven congregants this week. Services were planned Thursday for victims Bernice and Sylvan Simon, husband and wife, and Richard Gottfried, a dentist who worked part time at a clinic treating refugees and immigrants. The oldest victim, 97-year-old Rose Mallinger, will be honored at a service Friday. Her daughter was injured in the attack.