A man was detained Saturday afternoon by police in Poway, California, after a shooting at a synagogue that left at least one person dead and four injured.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department confirmed the incident. Poway Mayor Steve Vaus told MSNBC: “We have four folks with gunshot wounds. We do have one fatality.”
Among the injured, he said, is the rabbi who was leading the congregation. He said the rabbi was shot in the hand.
“I can also tell you it was a hate crime, and that will not stand,” Vaus said, adding the community will come together.
The incident occurred on the last day of Passover at the Chabad of Poway synagogue, which was scheduled to hold a holiday celebration that started at 11:00 a.m. PDT.
Sgt. Aaron Meleen of San Diego County Sheriff’s Department told reporters the shooter came into the temple, but was not there when officers arrived. He said the shooter was detained down the street away from the syna
People are in “varying states of injuries,” he said, adding that it was an “extremely chaotic scene, with people running everywhere.”
After the shooting, the rabbi continued to speak, Minoo Anmary, a witness, told a local NBC TV affiliate. She said one of her friends, a woman, was shot.
The shooting has caused chaos and confusion for families, Anmary said, because it is the Sabbath and many members could not use their cell phones for religious reasons.
Poway is about 25 miles northeast of San Diego.
“A man has been detained for questioning in connection with a shooting incident at the Chabad of Poway synagogue,” the sheriff’s department said in a tweet. “Deputies were called to Chabad Way just before 11:30 a.m. There are injuries. This is a developing situation.”
On the synagogue’s Facebook page, worshipers had been invited to “experience the Priestly blessing during the prayer invocation.” It was to be followed by a final Passover meal at 7 p.m.
The shooting comes one month after a shooting at a mosque in New Zealand that killed 50 and less than one week after a series of explosions in Sri Lanka targeted churches and hotels on Easter Sunday.
Exactly six months before this Passover shooting, an October attack at the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue killed 11.
This is a developing story. Check back at USATODAY.com for more details.
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