Police have identified the suspect behind Saturday's shooting at The Chabad Synagogue that left one person dead and several others wounded. According to authorities, John T. Earnest, a 19-year-old from San Diego was arrested and has been questioned.
Update #9 @SDSheriff Gore: We are serving search warrants for the suspect's home, car and the Chabad of Poway. We are also working with @FBISanDiego, @ATFHQ & @EscondidoPolice to check John Earnest's possible involvement in the arson and vandalism of mosque in @Escondido_CA.
— San Diego Sheriff (@SDSheriff) 28 апреля 2019 г.
The NBC broadcaster, in the meantime, has reported that an anti-Semitic letter had been posted online several hours before the attack by a user, who called himself JohnTEarnest.
The author of the letter said that he was inspired by Robert Bowers, who staged a shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh in October that killed 11 people, and Brenton Tarrant, who shot dead 50 people in mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand on 15 March. He pointed out that the preparations for the attack on the synagogue in Poway had been started soon after the Christchurch shooting.
READ MORE: San Diego Synagogue Shooting Leaves 1 Person Dead, Several Injured — Police
The letter is reportedly full of anti-Semitic statements. The author also criticised the policy of US President Donald Trump over his support for Israel.
At the same time, the 15 March mosque shooting was the deadliest terror attack in New Zealand. The suspected shooter also published a manifesto filled with anti-Muslim statements prior to committing the massacre.
