Posted to General on
CNN
Seattle, WA - One person was killed and five others were wounded, three critically, in a shooting at the Jewish Federation in downtown Seattle, Washington, police said.

Police have detained a suspect who is a U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent.

“This is a crime of hate, and there's no place for that in the city of Seattle,” Mayor Greg Nickels said. “This was a purposeful hateful act, as far as we know, by an individual acting alone.”

The attack promoted Seattle police to increase security at Jewish temples and Islamic mosques around the city, Chief Gil Kerlikowske said.

“We are also protecting mosques, because there is always the concern of retaliatory crime or retaliatory incident,” Kerlikowske said.

One Dead in HateCrime Shooting at Jewish Center

CNN

Seattle, WA – One person was killed and five others were wounded, three critically, in a shooting at the Jewish Federation in downtown Seattle, Washington, police said.

Police have detained a suspect who is a U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent.

“This is a crime of hate, and there’s no place for that in the city of Seattle,” Mayor Greg Nickels said. “This was a purposeful hateful act, as far as we know, by an individual acting alone.”

The attack promoted Seattle police to increase security at Jewish temples and Islamic mosques around the city, Chief Gil Kerlikowske said.

“We are also protecting mosques, because there is always the concern of retaliatory crime or retaliatory incident,” Kerlikowske said.

The suspect walked into the office building just after 4 p.m. Friday armed with a large caliber semi-automatic handgun and opened fire after asking for the manager, Kerlikowske said.

The shooter laid down his handgun and surrendered to SWAT officers about 12 minutes after the shooting began, Kerlikowske said.

The belief that it was a hate crime is based on what the suspect said to a 911 operator and supervisor when he took a phone from an office worker who called the emergency number. Kerlikowske would not say specifically what the man said.

All of the shooting victims — including the one killed — were women, he said. Most of the 18 people in the building were female, but there was no indication he was specifically targeting them, the chief said.

The wounded were taken to Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center following the shooting, the hospital said. Three of them were in critical condition with injuries to their abdomens.

The other two victims were in satisfactory condition, the hospital said, including a 37-year-old woman who is 20 weeks pregnant. She was shot in the arm, while the other woman sustained a knee injury.

Assistant Police Chief Nick Metz said police had no specific information about any threats, but his department did issue an alert Thursday “reminding officers to be vigilant to monitor synagogues and mosques in the city.”

Kerlikowske acknowledged that the suspect was a Muslim, but he did not reveal his name. He said there was no reason to believe more than one person was involved in the attack. Another law enforcement official told CNN the suspect was of Pakistani descent.

FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Laura Laughlin said the suspect was a U.S. citizen, not from Seattle.

Robert Jacobs, Pacific Northwest Regional director for the Anti-Defamation League, told CNN the group has been warning Jewish institutions to be wary and ensure they have adequate security because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. If they cannot, he said, it would be better for Jews “not to congregate in one location that might be an obvious site.”

Related Articles

18 Comments

  • Itzik_s

    Ad Mosai!?!

    And who is this idiot police chief who is so afraid of retaliatory incidents? Sounds like he should work for the UN!

  • Moshiach Now!

    Such Chutzpah! To walk into a Jewish Establishment and fire just like that! How dare he start up with us! May Hashem avenge the blood of our fellow Jews with midah kneged midah and Moshiach should come right now so that there will be peace in the world!

  • BORUCH BEN TZVI HAKOHAINE HOFFINGER

    The coward gave up. B"H
    Afraid to fire at the police. He knows (I imagine) he won’t get the death penalty, and perhaps, a friend of his once escaped from a maximum security facility (which has happened). After-all, many Americans are kind to murderers, even killers of cops. Pity (they say) on their poor souls!

  • hasta la vista, great northwest

    Just wondering when a crazed Jew will attack a mosque in Seattle. Never happened. Never will. Political correctness is a tragedy for Jews. Pam Waechter was a good woman.

  • Ploni Ben Ploni

    What about protection @ 770? Atlantic Ave is not that far away..!!!!

  • Insulted

    Good idea, protect the mosques and say only one person was invoved. Why not investigate the mosques that he went to and assume that there may be more invoved?!

  • please stop it already

    terroist just stop what ur doing..hashem will pay u back for thisjust watch
    MOSHIACH NOW
    AD MOSAI
    AD MOSAI
    AD MOSAI

  • Another Frustrated Jew

    Good Point about ‘No Muslims, no Terror’ and ‘investigate the mosques…assume that here may be more involved’
    This article needs to reach far and wide in the secular world…
    Why the hell can’t the world see that the Jews would never and could never do randomn acts of terror…

    It is enfuriating that we are still not yet vindicated !!

    Enough wasted Jewish Blood !!! Enough !!!!

  • enough bs

    yeah if they protect the mosques the might get themself shot, but no poor muslims need protection

  • Israel

    every mosque and every Muslim center must be closely monitored by the homeland security agency who is responsible for the security of its US citizens. The Mosque where this filth belonged should have been infiltrated by agents who could have seen that there were muslim priests who were preaching hate against Israel and hate against Jews. This was clearly not an individual acting alone. He was egged on by a muslim preacher who was teaching hate. this is clearly a dereliction of duty on the part of homeland security.

  • reader

    Did the federation have mezuzos? I noticed a number of public Jewish buidldings don’t-like the Jewish museum in Manhattan.

  • trouble

    As far as protecting 770 and the comunity, we all know PD (if they will do anything) will need all the hepl (and brains) they can get (to do anything right) so we need to keep our EYES OPEN if you SEE ANYTHING SUSPICIOS at all (terror related, some one looking in to cars,houses,people) call 911 and shomrim right away
    better safe than sorry