Los Angeles Police Department gang unit officers tape off a crime scene. Photo: Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images
The Los Angeles Police Department arrested a suspect in connection to two separate, nonfatal shootings of two Jewish people this week and is investigating the incidents as hate crimes.
Driving the news: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass condemned the shootings in the city’s Pico-Robertson neighborhood, which is home to a large Jewish community and several synagogues, Jewish schools and kosher restaurants, as well as the Museum of Tolerance, according to NPR.
The shootings took place outside of separate synagogues on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Both survivors of the shootings were Jewish men, per LA County Sheriff Robert Luna.
- The suspect, who is “believed to have committed both shootings,” was taken into custody on Thursday following a search, the police department said.
- “The facts of the case led to this crime being investigated as a hate crime,” it added. The FBI is also investigating the attacks as potential hate crimes, Bass said.
- Detectives recovered several items of evidence, including a rifle handgun, LAPD added.
- LAPD chief Michael Moore tweeted Friday morning there is “much more to this incident that we will share at the appropriate time.”
Advocacy groups in the Los Angeles area have put out statements since the shootings.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles said in a statement it had learned the suspect allegedly “has a history of animus towards the Jewish community.”
Anti-Defamation League’s Southern California chapter said: “Our thoughts are with the victims and their families.”
Mayor Bass said in a statement: “These attacks against members of our Jewish community in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood are absolutely unacceptable.”
- “At a time of increased anti-Semitism, these acts have understandably set communities on edge,” she added.
Councilmember Katy Young Yaroslavsky, whose district includes the Pico-Robertson community, said Thursday the “deeply concerning” shootings come amid “a rise in antisemitic attacks in recent months.”
What’s next: LAPD said it is “aware of the concern these crimes have raised in the surrounding community” and has “been in close contact with religious leaders as well as individual and organizational community stakeholders.”
- The LAPD said there will be “an increased police presence and patrols around Jewish places of worship and surrounding neighborhoods through the weekend.”
The big picture: More than 80% of Jewish people in the United States have said antisemitism has increased in the last five years, with many saying they’ve seen antisemitic remarks and threats online, according to a pair of new surveys from American Jewish Committee.
Go deeper: Antisemitism is on the rise in the U.S., surveys say
