Category: Other

Los Angeles Police Dept continues search for gunman in shooting, described as African-American man wearing black hoodie.  Synagogue members are predominantly Moroccan and North African Jews, according to LA Times. Media reports conflict on whether shooter spoke to those he attacked before shooting.  LA Times reports men attacked without discussion; Haaretz reports argument before shooting.

Los Angeles Times: “Synagogue shooting unnerves Los Angeles”
— LAPD now backing off initial reports that attack was a “hate crime”
— LA Times reports: “‘There is absolutely no evidence to support any connection to terrorism or a hate crime,’ said Mike Downing, deputy chief of the LAPD’s Counter Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence Bureau.”

Los Angeles Times: “Detectives search for suspect, motive in North Hollywood synagogue shootings”
— after comments by Los Angeles mayor, “officials later said it’s too early to tell whether the attack was motivated by religious hate.”

Los Angeles Times: “Police search for gunman in L.A. synagogue shooting”
— “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.”
— “The temple, which has a congregation of mostly Moroccan and other North African Jews, installed security cameras years ago to discourage attacks, Yehuda said.”

Los Angeles Times reports:
— “Synagogues in L.A. on alert after shooting that police are investigating as a hate crime”
— “Two worshipers at a North Hollywood synagogue were shot this this morning in an attack LAPD detectives are investigating as a hate crime.”
— “At about 7:40 a.m., Los Angeles police arrested a man near the synagogue but the sources say they don’t believe he was the gunman.”
— “LAPD Deputy Chief Michel Moore said the shootings occurred in the underground garage of the temple. A man coming to the temple for worship parked his car in the lot and was approached by suspect who Moore said was wearing a black hoodie.”
— “‘Without any words,’ Moore said, the suspect shot the man in the leg. Then the gunman fired on a second man who had arrived for prayers. That second victim was also wounded in the leg.”

— “LAPD officials have alerted other synagogues around Los Angeles about the shooting, and police have stepped up patrols at Jewish religious institutions.”

Los Angeles Times reports:
— “LAPD sources told The Times that the gunman approached the victims as they were about to enter the temple for morning prayers. The sources said the gunman pulled out his weapon and fired. The gun jammed at first, then he fired again.”

Jerusalem Post reports:
— “The synagogue’s rabbi said the attack came as people were leaving the building. ‘People were leaving the synagogue after Shaharit [the morning service]… a man who was standing outside, hiding so that he won’t be seen, started shooting, hit two people and then ran away,’ Rabbi Yossi Malka, the synagogue’s rabbi told Army Radio after the incident. Speaking in Hebrew, Malka told the station that ‘police said this was a hate crime… that it was done because this was a Jewish synagogue [sic].'”

Los Angeles Times: Synagogue shooting occurred in heart of Valley’s Orthodox Jewish community

CBS2/KCLA9 reports: “Police had detained a teenager for questioning, but the LAPD continued to search for possible suspects in the area, Derek Bell, who was over in Sky 2 said. According to authorities, the juvenile matched the ‘very loose’ description of the attacker, who was described as a black man wearing a hoodie, Moore said.”
KNX1070 News Radio Report — Audio News Conference

KABC-TV Los Angeles Reports:
— “2 shot inside North Hollywood synagogue”
— “Two people were shot inside a synagogue in North Hollywood on Thursday. Authorities responded to reports of a shooting at Adat Yeshurun Valley Sephardic synagogue on the 12400 block of Sylvan Street at 6:18 a.m. Two victims with gunshot wounds to the legs were taken to a local hospital in unknown condition. One man has been detained near the shooting.”

AP reports:
— “Two men in their 40s were shot in the legs near the Adat Yeshurun Valley Sephardic Orthodox synagogue in North Hollywood, Deputy Police Chief Michel Moore said. The men, both members of the synagogue, had arrived in separate cars for the morning service shortly before 6:30 a.m. when the gunman approached one and, without speaking, shot him and the other man, Moore said. The men were hospitalized in good condition.”
— “Police later detained and handcuffed a man less than a mile from the synagogue. The youth, believed to be about 17 years old, matched the ‘very loose’ description of the attacker, who was described as a black man wearing a hoodie, Moore said.”
— “Officers cordoned off the area and continued to search for a possible suspect, Moore said.”
— “There were no security guards in the parking garage but investigators will look at the synagogue’s security videos, he said.  There was no immediate word on a motive.”
— “‘We have to assume, because it was a synagogue, it was a service (and) that there was no other apparent motive, we’re looking at it as a hate crime,’ Lt. John Romero said.”
— “The FBI also responded to the scene, and police alerted nearby Jewish schools and temples and put extra patrols in place. There are several synagogues in the area.”
— “‘We are being vigilant for any follow-ups that may occur,’ Moore said.”

MSNBC reports:
— “A man with a handgun entered the building at about 6:20 a.m. and shot two people, police said. Police are investigating the shooting as a hate crime.”
— “The victims were taken to a hospital.”
— “It was not clear how many people were in the building at the time of the shooting.”
— “No one answered a call to the synagogue.”
— “The attack occurred 10 miles away from a 1999 shooting at a Jewish community center where white supremacist Buford Furrow wounded three children, a teenager and an adult. He later killed a letter carrier.”

Haaretz reports:
— “Los Angeles Police subsequently detained a man whom they believed to be the shooter.”
— “Officer Rosario Herrera said a man with a handgun entered the Adat Yeshurun Valley Sephardic synagogue in North Hollywood at about 6:20 a.m. and shot two people. The victims were later taken to a hospital.”
— “The Israeli consulate in Los Angeles said the gunman was an African American who had had an argument with two Jews in the parking lot. The pair then entered the building, after which the gunman followed them in and opened fire, the consulate said.”
— “Their condition was stable, according to the consulate.”

CNN reports:
— “A man wearing a hooded sweatshirt shot two men at a North Hollywood synagogue Thursday morning, wounding them in their legs, police said.”
— “The two men, who have not been identified, are in stable condition at separate hospitals, said Deputy Chief Michel Moore of the Los Angeles Police Department.”
— “Police have taken a person into custody whose clothing matches ‘a loose description’ of what the suspect was wearing, Moore told reporters, but he emphasized that a search for a suspect would continue.”