US Synagogue Shooting: One Dead, Three Injured After Gunman Opens Fire; Police Arrests 19-Year-Old Man

A gunman opened fire at a synagogue in Poway, California of United States on Saturday (27 April) killing a woman and wounding three, the police said, reports BBC.

The gunman targeted the mass that gathered at a Passover celebration in a Synagogue in Poway, near San Diego city. The police have arrested a 19-year-old man named John Earnest after the attack. The motive of the gunman behind the shooting is yet to be ascertained by the police. However, US President Donald Trump called this attack an “act of hate crime”.

Investigators were reviewing the suspect's social media activity and examining an anti-Semitic "open letter" published online. In the letter, which appeared on the online forum 8chan hours before the attack, the author - who identified himself as John Earnest - said he was inspired by the Christchurch mosque attacks last month, as well as the deadly shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.

The attack happened six months after a mass shooting in Pittsburgh in October 2018, which is said to the worst anti-Semitic attack in the recent history of the US.