Montgomery Police Stepping Up Patrols Around Synagogues
A Montgomery County police spokesman said Saturday that the county was stepping up patrols around county synagogues in the wake of the shooting at the Pittsburgh synagogue in the morning.
Police officials, in a televised press conference, said 11 people were killed and six injured in the gunfire at Tree of Life Synagogue, in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
The officials also said police believe Robert Bowers, 46, of Pittsburgh was acting alone.
“We think the threat has been eliminated. We don’t think anybody has been associated with this gunman, we’ll continue to look at all angles in the conduct of this investigation,” saiid Bob Jones, the FBI’s special agent in charge in Pittsburgh.
Injured in his apprehension, Bowers is not one of the six injured, said Wendell Hissrich, Pittsburgh’s public safety director. Hissrich said police believe he was shot by a police officer. Bowers was armed with an assault rifle and three handguns, Jones said.
The officials at the news conference did not speculate on Bowers’ motive.
Reached at home, Rep. Jamie Raskin said we’re living in “an atmosphere of intense hatred … It’s hard to believe this is America.”
“Every morning we wake up to news of gun violence, killings and hate attacks,” he said, praising the work of law enforcement in Pittsburgh and in their work with the pipe bombs that had been sent through the mail the previous week.
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