On April 27th in Poway California, another shooting took place at the Congregation Chabad of Poway Synagogue.

One of the victims, Lori Kaye, had gone to the synagogue on the last day of Passover- one of the holiest celebrations to the Jewish. Kaye had gone to attend the service preached by Rabbi Goldstein and give a Kaddish prayer to her late mother who passed in November. Kaye passed away later on Sunday at the hospital after being shot as she tried protecting the members of the congregation.

The alleged shooter, John Earnest, was detained in the San Diego jail Sunday morning with one count of murder in the first-degree and 3 counts of attempted murder in the first-degree. It was stated by the police that as of now there was no motive behind the shooting but an anonymous letter was posted on a site called 8Chan claiming to be Earnest. The letter was about anti-semitism and killing Jewish people, but did not mention the Chabad of Poway Synagogue. It also made references to other shootings in the past on places of worship such as  the shooting in the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, which happened six months ago. After shooting rounds of fire it was said that gunman fled the congregation due to a malfunction in his gun. He called the police saying he was responsible for the shooting and turned himself in without resisting.

Two other victims from the incident are 8-year-old Noya Dahan and her uncle Almog Peretz, who was visiting from Israel for Passover. Peretz protected many of the children during the shooting by rushing them out the doors into a nearby house. He was however injured by shrapnel. Dahan was injured by shrapnel as well, on her face and one of her legs. She told CNN that her uncle had saved many children, including herself. Dahan and her family had moved to the U.S to be able to live in a safe environment. Dahan’s father, Israel Dahan, had stated that his children no longer want to live in the U.S.  

Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein was shot on both his hands leading to him to the loss of his right index finger. The only thoughts going through Goldsteins head was that his grandchildren don’t deserve to see him like this, he stated. With bandages on both his hand, Rabbi Goldstein called the congregation together to show their unity in a time of despair.