Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz opened a meeting of Jewish activists on Thursday with a moment of silence for the California shooting victims and said he was worried that the attack was an act of “Islamic terrorism.”

“All of us are deeply concerned that this is yet another manifestation of terrorism, radical Islamic terrorism here at home,” the Texas senator told the meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

Investigators have not yet identified a specific motive for Wednesday’s shooting, which 14 people dead and many more wounded. David Bowdich, assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles office, said the possible motives include workplace violence and terrorism. He did not elaborate.

Cruz was the first of the major Republican candidates for president to speak Thursday at the meeting of the RJC, a group backed by casino billionaire and major Republican donor Sheldon Adelson.

“This horrific murder underscores that we are at a time of war,” Cruz told the crowd in downtown Washington. “Whether or not the current administration realizes it or is willing to acknowledge it, our enemies are at war with us.

“I believe this nation needs a wartime president to defend it,” he said.

The coalition, for which Adelson is a major funding source and board member, has held presidential forums in almost every election year since 1988. Apart from the debates, this is one of the only 2016 events to attract every single candidate to one room.

(AP)