Terror | Rabbi’s hands are shattered in fatal attack on synagogue

The rabbi who led a service on the last day of Passover suffered a gunshot wound to his hands and two others endured shrapnel wounds as political, civic and religious leaders across the country struggled to make sense of another fatal attack on a house of worship six months after a mass shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue.

John T. Earnest, 19, surrendered to a police after bursting into Chabad of Poway, north of San Diego yesterday [Macau time] and opening fire with about 100 people inside, killing Lori Kayne, 60, and injuring Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, Noya Dahan, 8, and Almog Peretz, 34, authorities said.

Earnest, who had no previous contact with law enforcement, may be charged with a hate crime in addition to homicide, San Diego County Sheriff William Gore said. Earnest is also being investigated in connection with an arson attack on a mosque in nearby Escondido, California, on March 24.

“Any time somebody goes into a house of worship and shoots the congregants, in my book, that’s a hate crime,” Poway Mayor Steve Vaus said.

There were indications an AR-type assault weapon might have malfunctioned after the gunman fired numerous rounds inside, Gore said. An off-duty Border Patrol agent working as a security guard fired at the shooter as he fled, missing him but striking his getaway vehicle, Gore said.

Shortly after fleeing, Earnest called 911 to report the shooting, San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit said. When an officer reached him on a roadway, “the suspect pulled over, jumped out of his car with his hands up and was immediately taken into custody,” Nisleit said.

Audrey Jacobs, a friend of the slain woman, said on Facebook that Kane was “taking bullets” for the rabbi to save his life and the rabbi continued to give his sermon after being shot.

Gore said authorities were reviewing copies of Earnest’s social media posts, including what he described as a “manifesto.”

A person identifying themselves as John Earnest posted an anti-Jewish screed online about an hour before the attack. The poster described himself as a nursing school student and praised the suspects accused of carrying out deadly attacks on mosques in New Zealand last month and at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue Oct. 27.

California State University, San Marcos, confirmed Earnest was a student on the dean’s list and said the school was “dismayed and disheartened” that he was suspected in “this despicable act.”

There was no known threat after Earnest was arrested, but authorities boosted patrols at places of worship as a precaution, police said.

Minoo Anvari, a member of the synagogue, said her husband was inside during the shooting. She said he called to tell her the shooter was shouting and cursing.

She called the shooting “unbelievable” in a peaceful and tight-knit community. “We are strong; you can’t break us,” Anvari said.

Rabbi Yonah Fradkin, executive director of Chabad of San Diego County, said that “in the face of senseless hate we commit to live proudly as Jews in this glorious country. We strongly believe that love is exponentially more powerful than hate. We are deeply shaken by the loss of a true woman of valor, Lori Kaye, who lost her life solely for living as a Jew.”

Donny Phonea, who lives across the street from the synagogue, turned off his power drill and heard someone shout, “Police!” Then he heard three or four shots. Elliot Spagat & Daisy Nguyen, Poway, AP