1:44
- ABC News
- October 28, 2018
Alleged gunman used 4 guns in rampage: Officials
The alleged gunman in the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre used four guns.
1:44
Officers raced to the synagogue and encountered Bowers as he was exiting the building and a gun battle ensued, authorities said. Bowers retreated back into the temple and went to the third floor, according to the criminal complaint filed against him.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/map-synagogue-shooting-pittsburgh-ap-ps-181027_hpEmbed_13x11_384.jpg\")
\"SWAT operators entered the third floor of the building. While searching for any remaining victims SWAT operators encountered Bowers, who opened fire on the officers,\" according to the complaint.
During the gunfight, two officers were shot multiple times by Bowers. Two other officers were injured by flying glass or bullet fragments in the encounter, authorities said.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/synagogue-9-ap-er-181028_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
During the exchange of gunfire, Bowers was shot several times and taken into custody, according to the complaint.
As Bowers was being treated at the scene, he blurted out a statement to SWAT Officer David Blahut, saying, \"He wanted all Jews to die and also that they (Jews) were committing genocide to his people,\" according to the criminal complaint.
Bowers was not known to the FBI before Saturday, according to Jones. Investigators suspect he acted alone, Jones said.
In addition to the federal charges, Bowers was also charged with 35 state offenses, including 11 counts of criminal homicide, six counts of criminal attempted homicide, six counts of aggravated assault and 13 counts of ethnic intimidation.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/synagogue-5-gty-er-181028_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
Some of the congregants were gathering for a baby-naming ceremony in the synagogue which had not yet started when the massacre began to unfold. No children were among those injured, authorities said.
Five victims remained hospitalized Sunday evening, including two in critical condition, said Dr. Donald Yealy, chair of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He said the two in critical condition were a 40-year-old SWAT team member and a 70-year old man who is the chaplain at UPMC-Presbyterian.
Dr. Leonard Weiss, assistant EMS medical director for the city of Pittsburgh, lives next door to the synagogue and told ABC News on Sunday that the gunfire woke him up.
\"I started hearing yelling. Then I realized it was very close by,\" Weiss said. \"My first thoughts were to get safe. But I knew that my role with the city and my role in my job is to find out what's going on and respond.\"
He said he called the emergency dispatch center to find out where the staging area was, then alerted his colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center of the alarming situation.
\"Then I dressed up. I got as much equipment as I could together, and put my boots on and I went outside,\" Weiss said. \"I immediately was suspicious when I heard the gunfire that there would be several casualties. It took a long time for the scene to get safe and for us to get a specific count on who was injured.\"
He said police officers escorted him to the staging area, where he helped direct ambulances to the scene and paramedics to the scene. He recalled checking on one victim with a bullet wound who was being rushed to the hospital in bad shape.
He said that once the gunfire subsided and the wounded had been removed from the synagogue, he went to the threshold of the temple and looked in.
\"I saw several damaged windows. I could see a lot of upsetting things in the chapel that was beyond that threshold,\" he said. \"I was able to visualize some of the victims who lost their lives.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/synagogue-1-gty-er-181028_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
\"I felt very emotional,\" he said. \"I felt scared for myself and for my family and my neighbors. I felt scared for my city that it could happen here. And, [I] felt especially proud and worried about my colleague paramedics that risked their lives to go right in and pull people out while the action was unfolding.\"
He said it wasn't until Sunday morning that he heard one of the victims killed was Rabinowitz, a family physician and colleague at the UPMC Shadyside Hospital.
Kim and Ken Hardin, who live across the street from the synagogue, said they heard the shots and quickly ushered their children and a friend of theirs into the basement and away from windows.
\"We heard five repetitive shots. I stepped out on my porch and I heard three additional shots and within minutes police started to arrive,\" Ken Hardin told ABC's \"Good Morning America\" on Sunday. \"Police started to park in front of our house. They were shielding themselves with their car. So we realized the situation was pretty serious.\"
He said five officers knocked on his back door and asked to use their second floor to position snipers.
\"The five police officers went upstairs, asked that I open the windows in our bedroom and obtain a chest-high dresser,\" Ken Hardin said. \"So I found one in my son's room. A police officer and I took the drawers out and dragged the dresser right in front of the window and they perched their rifles on top of the dresser toward the synagogue.\"
Kim Hardin added: \"We did see shooting taking place. Our youngest son said that he saw a police officer get shot. I don't know whether or not that he did. It was certainly traumatic for a 10-year-old to see police with so many weapons and to hear the gunfire.\"
The Anti-Defamation League said it was \"unconscionable for Jews to be targeted during worship on a Sabbath morning.\"
\"This is the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the United States,\" it said in a statement.
First responders prevented the shooting from becoming a worse tragedy, Brady said.
\"They are truly heroes, who without hesitation, without concern for their safety ran toward gunfire to protect innocent victims. By confronting and neutralizing Bowers, they prevented additional loss of life,\" Brady said.
The shooting rattled nerves across the country and globe and prompted an outpouring of support and condolences.
In New York, the Empire State Building went dark except for an orange halo on the mast to honor the victims. In Paris, the Eiffel Tower also went dark in homage to the victims.
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said the city of Pittsburgh will stand by the victims' families and help them get through the tragedy.
\"Pittsburgh is a strong town. We are a resilient city,\" Peduto said at Sunday's news conference. \"We'll get through this darkest day in Pittsburgh's history by working together.\"
ABC News' Matt Gutman and Whit Johnson contributed to this report
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