10:40AM EST: [UPDATES BELOW] Los Angeles police are searching for a gunman suspected of shooting at least two people at a synagogue in North Hollywood.
The shooting occurred at 6:19 a.m. Thursday at the Adat Yeshurun synagogue in the 12000 block of Sylvan Street.
According to a police statement, a man with a handgun entered the synagogue and shot two people in the leg in what is being labeled as a hate crime.
The victims, both Jewish, were transported to a local hospital in stable condition, officials said.
Police say they are searching for a suspect described only as a black man.
The synagogue is located next to an elementary school. It was not immediately known whether the suspect search affected the school.
UPDATE 12:30PM EST: THE FOLLOWING UPDATE IS FROM THE LA TIMES: A gunman entered the grounds of a North Hollywood synagogue this morning and shot and wounded two men who were going to a prayer service in an attack LAPD detectives are investigating as a hate crime.
The unidentified gunman wearing a black hoodie walked into the underground parking garage of Adat Yeshurun Valley Sephardic synagogue at 12405 Sylvan St. shortly before 6:20 a.m., said LAPD Deputy Chief Michel Moore. He approached a man in his 40s who was parking his car to attend prayer service.
“Without any words,” Moore said, the suspect shot the man in the leg. He then fired at a second man in his 40s who had also arrived for prayers. The second victim was also wounded in the leg. The gunman then fled from the garage. Witnesses called 911.
Moore said both victims were in good condition at local hospitals.
Detectives are “working with [the victims] to understand more information,” Moore said. They do not believe the motive was robbery, according to LAPD sources, who spoke to The Times on the condition they not be named because the investigation is ongoing.
Los Angeles police arrested a man about an hour later near the synagogue, but sources said they do not believe he was the gunman. LAPD officials have alerted other synagogues around Los Angeles about the shooting, and police have stepped up patrols at Jewish religious institutions.
Adat Yeshurun is in the heart of the San Fernando Valley’s Orthodox Jewish community and within walking distance of kosher markets and other synagogues. Many people move to the area so they could walk to temple.
The sources said detectives are trying to determine the motive, and whether the gunman acted alone or as part of a larger group. LAPD detectives were reviewing security videotapes from the temple in hopes of better understanding the chain of events.
They were also searching a nearby park to see if the suspect is hiding there.
Yehuda, 53, a man of Tunisian descent who declined to give his last name, has attended the Sephardic Jewish temple for the last 15 years. He arrived early this morning to begin his regular morning prayers.
About an hour later, as he prayed with some 15 others in the temple’s quiet sanctuary, four gunshots broke the silence, he said.
He said he heard screams from the parking lot, then saw two men stumble into the temple.
Their blood spread over the floor as people rushed to stop the bleeding, Yehuda said, but no one inside saw the shooter.
“Maybe it was crazy person. Maybe he was drugged up. Maybe it was a Jew. We don’t know,” Yehuda said, nervously adjusting his yarmulke as he stood outside the taped-off scene with two friends.
Yehuda said the two men who were shot were latecomers who had just parked their cars.
The temple, which has a congregation of mostly Moroccan and other North African Jews, installed security cameras years ago to discourage attacks, Yehuda said.
“This is a good place,” he saiD.
(Source: KLTA-TV)
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23 Responses
“hate crime?” no way!
you only shoot at people when you LOVE them!
what a bunch of liberal hypocrisy!
EVERY shul and EVERY Jewish School should have AT LEAST one ARMED guard 24/7. What tragedy r”l has to happen first to wake us up and make that happen?!?!
AinOhdMilvado- great idea, are you paying for it?
Refuah sheleima to the victims, more blood shed al Kiddush Hashem
How about this. Every Jew , nay every law abiding citizen , should own and operate a firearm. Disarmament always leads to tragedy. Criminals will always have weapons it is time good people do too.
#1 Mark
Nice move, turning an attack on a shul into another nonsensical political rant.
Yes, when a man breaks into a shul with intent to kill Jews, it’s labeled a hate crime.
When a man breaks into a shul with intent to steal money, it’s not.
We do punish criminals differently based on intent, and hate crime laws send the message that if you translate your anger and prejudice into violence against a particular group, you will be punished excessively for it. We’ve all seen what can happen when a society becomes filled with hate and intolerance.
Why is this such a problem for you?
#1 – Mark Levin – What exactly is your point? If you are really attempting to make reaction to this horrible incident an ideological issue, you would truly be an Al Sharpton – such destructive nonsense.
AinOhd #2, I don’t think that is financially possible, especially for small institutions.
AinOhdMilvado, sounds good but that costs $$$$$$$$$
Many posters here miss the point about self defense in Los Angeles. There is no licensing requirement per se to purchase a handgun, but obtaining a permit to carry a handgun is impossible. Celebrities, politicians, and their private bodyguards seem to be “exempt”. A conviction on a first offense of illegally carrying a concealed weapon is still a misdemeanor. A second conviction is a “wobbler” felony, subject to the judge’s discretion. California anti-gun legislation has virtually shut down most gun dealers in the state. Los Angeles, like New York City, requires its citizens to be perpetual victims. Of course, they have the option of relocating to saner locales.
OF COURSE, Mark, is on the target. This is a HATE crime and we Jews are hated throughout the world.
#3 – YES, I would definitely be willing to contribute for my shul. Alternatively, members of the shul with a firearm permit could do it for free, or in lieu of membership dues. I’m sure that if chas v’shalom a major tragedy occurs at some shul, THEN “after the horse is stolen” the money for this WOULD BE found somehow.
#4 Hatzair – You are right, BUT – as you probably know, many locales make it almost impossible to get a firearm permit. Of course, criminals, who by definition don’t care about the law, will ALWAYS have guns, and these laws just keep law-abiding citizens unarmed and easy targets. Residents of New York City should know that although getting a (handgun) carry permit is virtually impossible for most people, a (home or business)premises permit generally can be gotten. Also – a “long gun” (i.e. rifle or shotgun) permit can definitely be gotten by almost anyone as long as you have no criminal record.
You don’t have to think too far outside the box to ask the question: What if the shooting resulted from a business deal gone bad. Maybe it wasn’t a hate crime. Or do we assume all of the participants in a vasikin minyan at a Morrocan shul are tzadikim and would never get mixed up with rough business counterparts?
In a neighborhood very close to where the shooting happened, an interesting incident happened several years ago. Two black guys entered someone’s home and beat up the owner and put him in the hospital for an extended stay. At first the sensational reaction was “hate crime” “lock your doors- home invasion robberies in the neighborhood” etc. But after a while, it became clear that the two thugs entered the house, left the wife and children alone and didn’t steal anything. They obviously targeted an individual for punishment. Soon after he emerged from the hospital, he made Aliya and is supposedly learning in Israel. I wonder what he did to provoke the incident?
To: “thoughts for a penny” – I have to say I think a penny is about all your thoughts are worth! Why would you be choshaid b’k’shairim in either of the cases in your posts. Unless you have specific information as evidence for your allegations, you have no right and no reason to suggest that any of these victims were anything but that – VICTIMS! I hope HaSh-m is not so quick to indict as you are, when you stand before Him.
#13 This is not the time to assume things. I am not moroccan and this is my shul and my community and I know one of the shot very well and they are good people will amazing kids! Watch what you say at a time like this.
#5: We do punish criminals differently based on intent
And who is the official mindreader who determines the intent?
#12 as an employee of City Government and a Jew who grew up with guns in the house and lost family in Germany ( interestingly enough after they were first disarmed of their guns) I am all too aware of the sad realities of NYC and many other metropolitan gun laws, my comment was intended to perhaps draw more attention to this and ask why we as a Kehilla do not pressure our politicians more , especially our JEWISH politicians to push for moral gun laws, it is as much a Jewish issue as anything else that we somehow can come together and push for ( sanitation tickets, or whatever else) we need to mobilize to change these immoral laws , I am encouraged by all the comments on here in favor of armed self defense, I will now speak to my boss
Galus
#17 haifagirl
There is no mindreader, we rely on the event (was a person beat up and robbed, or just beat up), evidence (was the event premeditated and planned), and witnesses (did the guy scream “I hate you, you filthy Jew,” or did he say “give me your money or I’ll kill you).
This is what the juries decide. All deaths and all crimes are not equal.
What a senseless tragedy we should say tehilim for the victims- what is their names. May they both have a refua shalamah now.
AinOhdMilvado, read this and tell me what you think?
KTLA REPORTS: Police investigating a double shooting at a synagogue are looking into whether the shootings were related to a business or personal dispute.
Detectives now believe one of the victims was the target, and that a second victim may have been shot because he witnessed the attack.
#21:
Okay we have an event: 2 people were shot. And yes, they happened to be Jews at a shul.
Evidence: So far we don’t really have any, or at least I don’t.
Witnesses: Any witness accounts have not appeared on YWN yet.
So, we really don’t know anything, do we? And if you look at the update posted since this report, you will see that one of the victims may have been targeted. Or maybe not. We really don’t know. And maybe he was targeted because he was a Jews. Or maybe not. We really don’t know. He may have been targeted for any number of reasons, many of which would not even be his fault.
#18 & #21:
If somebody pulls out a gun, points it at someone, and shoots, that is generally not an accident. And yes, there is intent to commit a crime. But exactly WHAT is the intent? That is what takes a mindreader. And if somebody is shot and killed because he is Jewish, or if he is shot and killed because he got in the way of a robbery, or if he is shot and killed for any other reason whatsoever, he’s still just as dead.