The accused gunman in a Pittsburgh synagogue attack told police he wanted to «kill Jews» during a rampage that killed 11, according to a criminal complaint.
Oct. 29 (UPI) — The accused gunman in a Pittsburgh synagogue attack told police he wanted to «kill Jews» during a rampage that killed 11 and injured several, according to a criminal complaint.
Suspect Robert Bowers faces 29 criminal counts in the attack, including 11 counts of obstruction of exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death, 11 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder during a crime of violence, four counts of obstruction of exercise of religious beliefs resulting in bodily injury to a public safety officer and three counts of use and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.
He is scheduled to appear in court in Pittsburgh Monday at 1:30 p.m.
The charges are addition to the 11 counts of homicide filed in Pennsylvania state court, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bowers also was charged with six counts of attempted homicide, six counts of aggravated assault and 13 counts of ethnic intimidation.
FBI special agent Brian Collins wrote in his federal criminal complaint that Bowers said he purposely targeted those of the Jewish faith in the shooting at Tree of Life synagogue on Saturday.
«During the course of his deadly assault on people at the synagogue, and simultaneously with his gunfight with responding officers, Bowers made statements evincing an animus towards people of the Jewish faith,» Collins wrote in the complaint.
«Bowers commented to one law enforcement officer, in substance, ‘they’re committing genocide to my people. I just want to kill Jews.’ Bowers repeated comments regarding genocide, his desire to kill Jewish people, and that Jewish people needed to die.»
The federal complaint stated that Bowers was armed with three Glock .357 handguns and a Colt AR-15 model SP1. It added the weapons were not from Pennsylvania and were transported into the state.
On social media, Bowers complained about «the overwhelming Jew problem» and the caravan of Central American immigrants coming to the U. S. southern border, The Washington Post reported .
