Gunman faces 109 charges in synagogue shooting

Suspect could face death penalty

Associated Press

SAN DIEGO

A gunman who killed a woman and wounded three during services at a Southern California synagogue later told a 911 dispatcher he had done it because “the Jewish people are destroying the white race,” prosecutors said Thursday in announcing 109 hate crime and other charges against the man.

U.S. Attorney Robert S. Brewer Jr. said it’s possible the suspect, John T. Earnest, could face the death penalty after last month’s shooting at Chabad of Poway, in a suburb north of San Diego. A decision on that will be made at a later date, Brewer said.

The new charges against Earnest, 19, also include an earlier arson at a nearby mosque.

“We will not allow our community members to be hunted in their houses of worship, where they should feel free and safe to exercise their right to practice their religion,” Brewer said at news conference.

The federal charges include murder for the killing of 60-year-old Lori Kaye, who was hit twice as she prayed in the foyer of the synagogue. It also includes charges for the attempted murder of 53 others.

Three people were wounded, including an 8-year-old girl, her uncle and Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who was leading a service on the last day of Passover, a major Jewish holiday.

“As a society, we must surely focus on the preventive measure of instilling in our youth a sense of personal accountability to a Higher Being, in whose image every human being was created,” Chabad of Poway said in a statement provided to The Associated Press.

In a court appearance last month, Earnest pleaded not guilty to state charges of murder and attempted murder. In a separate case, he has pleaded not guilty to burning a mosque in nearby Escondido.