by Nate Wooten

On October 27, 2018 a man walked into the Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood in Pittsburgh and killed 11 people and wounded six including four police officers. A normally quiet neighborhood turned into chaos. Police and SWAT units arrived to take out the gunman.  Residents of the area had to stay indoors. This is a very nice community of Pittsburgh and now because of this violence some people may think of it as unsafe.

The gunman was 46 year-old Robert Bower. He killed 8 men and 3 women during a Shabbat service. Before the attack, he posted anti-semitic comments about Jews. He used an AR-15 to kill people. There were two officers that arrived and saw Bower.Then Bower ran into police and exchanged gunfire. Bower was shot and injured by the Pittsburgh SWAT officers ending the terror.

The shooting  took place where there is a large Jewish population. It is being investigated as a hate crime. It will take years for the community to recover from this attack. The city of Pittsburgh and the nation has come together to support the people who lost their loved ones and to speak out against hatred. This is another sad incident that shows why we should stop hatred.