Several dead in shooting at Pittsburgh synagogue

A gunman opened fire at a synagogue in the US city of Pittsburgh on Saturday, reportedly killing at least four people and injuring others before being taken into custody. Officials did not immediately confirm a motive for the attack at the synagogue, where dozens of people were understood to be celebrating Shabbat services on the Jewish Sabbath, and which comes with the United States witnessing a sharp spike in anti-Semitic incidents.

US television networks reported that at least four people had died, while the local CBS affiliate reported that eight people were dead. “Watching the events unfolding in Pittsburgh,” tweeted US President Donald Trump. “Law enforcement on the scene. People in Squirrel Hill area should remain sheltered. Looks like multiple fatalities.”

A police spokesman addressing reporters at the scene confirmed “multiple casualties” and said three officers where shot before the shooter was taken into custody. The condition of the officers was not immediately clear. Police were still clearing the building, the official said. A woman at the scene told CNN that her daughter was with others who ran down the stairs and barricaded themselves in the basement of the synagogue after hearing shots.

“They’re safe, but they kept hearing them firing and everything else,” she told the television network. CNN broadcast footage of police cars, ambulances and a police SWAT team outside the place of worship. The Tree of Life Synagogue is about five miles (eight kilometers) east of downtown Pittsburgh in the residential Squirrel Hill neighborhood. Pittsburgh’s Public Safety department, which includes the police, declared earlier that an active shooter was in the area near the synagogue, urging residents to stay away. “There are multiple casualties,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette quoted Police Commander Jason Lando as saying.