SAN DIEGO, April 29 — The rabbi wounded in Saturday's deadly shooting at his California synagogue praised an off-duty US Customs and Border Patrol agent who fired at the fleeing suspect.
“I had spoken to him in the past about coming to the synagogue armed because he's trained, and I want trained security as much as possible,” Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein told CNN, speaking from a local hospital. “Unfortunately, we couldn't afford to have an armed security officer at every service, so whenever we had extra help, we were grateful for it.”
The agent, who has not been identified, had recently discovered his Jewish heritage and travelled more than 160 km each way to visit the synagogue from his home in El Centro, a city on the border with Mexico, the rabbi said.
The sheriff of San Diego County, Bill Gore, told reporters on Saturday the officer fired as the gunman was fleeing, missing the suspect but hitting his car.
One woman was killed and three others wounded, including the rabbi, who lost a finger and had surgery to try to save more of his hand.
Shortly after the shooting, the suspected gunman, 19-year-old John Earnest, telephoned the California Highway Patrol to say he was involved and then surrendered to police on a highway in nearby Rancho Bernardo.
Earnest appears to be the author of a “manifesto” posted online who claimed to have set fire to a mosque last month and drew inspiration from last month's mass shooting at two mosques in New Zealand that killed 50 people.
The Border Patrol agent's actions were praised by US President Donald Trump, who wrote on Twitter: “He may have been off duty but his talents for Law Enforcement weren't!”
In a statement, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said that one of its off-duty agents “was present and took actions that may have prevented additional loss of life.”
“Hate and violence against anyone because of their race, ethnicity or religion has no place in our society,” senior CBP official John Sanders said in a statement. “CBP will fully support our law enforcement partners who are investigating.” — Reuters
