Synagogue survivors recount horror as they mourn

As members of the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh prepare for the funerals of 11 people killed in Saturday’s shooting, the suspect is expected to make his first court appearance Monday afternoon. Robert Gregory Bowers, 46, faces 29 federal charges, including hate crimes, in the synagogue attack that killed eight men and three women.

Six people were wounded, four of whom remained in the hospital Sunday night, two—including a 40-year-old police officer—are in critical condition. Most of the victims were elderly or middle-aged. The oldest was 97 and the youngest was 54. The first funeral—for brothers David and Cecil Rosenthal, ages 54 and 59, respectively—is planned for Tuesday. The Anti-Defamation League called it the deadliest U.S. attack on Jews.

Synagogue attendees related Sunday how they hid in closets to survive as the shooter made his way through the building with an AR-15 rifle and three handguns, all of which he reportedly owned legally. Bowers was a long-haul trucker who worked for himself and had no apparent criminal record. Federal prosecutors released the affidavit of charges against him Sunday and said they plan to seek the death penalty. After his arrest, Bowers allegedly told officers, “I just want to kill Jews.”

“I don’t know why he thinks the Jews are responsible for all the ills in the world, but he’s not the first, and he won’t be the last,” survivor Barry Werber, 76, said Sunday. “Unfortunately, that’s our burden to bear. It breaks my heart.”

Police shot Bowers multiple times before arresting him. He was hospitalized but released into police custody on Monday morning, a hospital spokeswoman said. Gab.com, the social media site where Bowers posted a threat before the shooting, was no longer operating Monday morning. Its CEO, Andrew Torba, called the synagogue shooting an act of terrorism and said the site had a zero-tolerance policy for terrorism and violence and was cooperating with law enforcement.

Crowdfunding campaigns to help those affected by the shooting are raising hundreds of thousands of dollars. One campaign by a group called Muslims United for Pittsburgh Synagogue raised more than $90,000 by Monday morning, and another by an Iranian graduate student studying in the United States garnered more than $500,000. The student, Shay Khatiri, said the effect the shooting had on a Jewish friend motivated him to help.