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THE teen gunman behind the San Diego synagogue shooting was inspired by last month’s Christchurch massacreand had previously burned down a mosque, according to a chilling online manifesto. John Earnest, 19, was acting alone when he killed one worshipper and wounded three, Sheriff Bill Gore said. He added investigators were reviewing the suspect’s social media […]
THE teen gunman behind the San Diego synagogue shooting was inspired by last month’s Christchurch massacreand had previously burned down a mosque, according to a chilling online manifesto.
John Earnest, 19, was acting alone when he killed one worshipper and wounded three, Sheriff Bill Gore said.
He added investigators were reviewing the suspect’s social media posts and “his open letter” which was filled with anti-Jewish bile and pledges support for alleged New Zealand mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant, reports New York Post.
A manifesto in his name says: “Tarrant was a catalyst for me personally. He showed me that it could be done. And that it needed to be done.”
Its author also claimed to have set a nearby mosque on fire last month.
The document continues: “To my family and friends. I can already hear your voices. ‘How could you throw your life away?’
“What value does my life have compared to the entirety of the European race?”
Earnest also referenced the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter in the manifesto, saying: “It’s a shame that Robert Bowers especially got such a bad rap.”
Earnest opened fire on worshippers on the final day of the Passover festival.
One woman was killed and three people were injured on Saturday at the busy Chabad of Poway near San Diego, California at 11.30am local time.
Four people were taken to the Palomar Medical Centre to receive treatment – including a young girl.
Earnest, of San Diego, is believed to be a nursing student at California State University and has no known criminal record.
There are indications in online messages that the shooter planned to live-stream the synagogue attack on Facebook – but did not succeed.
During the rampage, a San Diego hero was fatally shot after throwing herself in front of a hail of bullets to save a rabbi.
Selfless Lori Gilbert-Kaye, 60, has been praised as a “jewel of our community”.
When Mrs Kaye was fatally wounded, the first person who rushed to her aid was her doctor husband, Howard Kaye, who didn’t initially realise his wife was a victim.
Rabbi Yishoel Goldstein said he was preparing for Saturday’s service when he heard a loud sound, turned around and a saw a young man wearing sunglasses standing in front of him with a rifle.
The rabbi said he was heartbroken by her death, adding, “Lori took the bullet for all of us. She didn’t deserve to die.”
Mr Goldstein – who lost two fingers in the rampage – revealed on Sunday that the gunman’s shooting spree was cut short when his weapon malfunctioned.
Gunman Earnest, who has been held without bail, is scheduled to appear in a San Diego court on Wednesday to face a charge of murder and three counts of attempted murder, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department website.
The horrific attack came exactly six months since a shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue killed 11 people in the deadliest attack on Jews in US history.
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