The suspected gunman was taken into custody. Law enforcement officials identified him as Robert Bowers, 46, who had apparently posted virulently anti-Semitic comments on social media. Because the shootings are being treated as a federal hate crime, the FBI quickly took charge of the investigation with local officials, authorities said,
Police sources told a local TV reporter that the gunman walked in to the building and yelled, “All Jews must die.”
Police said Bowers was armed with an AK-47 rifle and two pistols, and that he fired at the first officers who arrived on the scene.
A social media user under Robert Bowers’ name had called Jews “the children of satan” and made posts before the attack alluding to neo-Nazi ideology and threatening HIAS, a refugee agency originally founded to assist Jews, according to a profile that has since been removed from Gab, a small social-media service that is popular with white nationalists and other far-right users.
Law enforcement officials familiar with the case confirmed that they believe the posts were made by the shooting suspect.
“HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people,” said a post made Saturday on the account before it was removed, according to an archived version of the page.
“I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.”
Mark Hetfield, chief executive of HIAS, said he was "in a state of shock" to hear that his organization was named by the shooter.
"It's horrible,” Hetfield said. The refugee resettlement group organized a "refugee shabbat" event last week at which more than 300 synagogues across the country came together to "celebrate our tradition of welcoming refugees." He said it was unclear if the Pittsburgh synagogue participated.
"It's horrible that refugees are fleeing for aid, and the Jewish community is doing so much to embrace them and then this tragedy unfolds.”
HIAS, founded in 1881 as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society to assist Jews fleeing persecution in Russia, since 2000 has served a broad range of refugees of all faiths from around the world, helping them resettle in the U.S.
President Trump, in his first comment to reporters on the shooting, called for armed guards at synagogues. "If they had protection inside, the results would have been far better," he said. "If there was an armed guard inside the temple, they would have been able to stop him, maybe there would have been nobody killed, except for him, frankly.”
It was not clear what type of security the Pittsburgh synagogue had.
Later, arriving for a campaign appearance in Indianapolis, Trump said that “what happened today is a horrible, horrible thing.”
“It looks definitely like it’s an anti-Semitic crime," he added. "That is something you wouldn’t believe could still be going on.”
Squirrel Hill, a tree-lined residential neighborhood, about 10 minutes east of downtown, has been the hub of Pittsburgh's Jewish community since the 1930s.
About a quarter of the metropolitan region’s Jewish population, estimated at roughly 50,000, lives in the neighborhood, according to a study released earlier this year by Pittsburgh’s Jewish Federation.
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto told all residents of the neighborhood to stay inside their homes until further notice.
Jeff Finkelstein of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh told WPXI-TV that the organization's security officer had alerted area synagogues and that they were on modified lockdown.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf called the shooting an "absolute tragedy."
"We must all pray and hope for no more loss of life," Wolf said. "But we have been saying ‘this one is too many’ for far too long. Dangerous weapons are putting our citizens in harm's way."
The synagogue is a large concrete building, its facade punctuated by rows of swirling, modernistic stained-glass windows. Among its treasures is a "Holocaust Torah," rescued from the former Czechoslovakia, according to its website. Its sanctuary can hold up to 1,250.
Finkelstein said local synagogues have done "lots of training on things like active shooters, and we've looked at hardening facilities as much as possible."
"This should not be happening, period," he told reporters at the scene. "This should not be happening in a synagogue."
12:15 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details on casualties and an additional statement by President Trump.
11 a.m.: This article was updated with staff reporting, and comments fom the Pittsburgh public safety director.
9:45 a.m.: This article was updated with comment from the Pittsburgh mayor and Pennsylvania governor.
8:45 a.m.: This article was updated with the suspect in custody.
This article was originally published at 8:10 a.m.
