Post by Paddy by Grace on Oct 30, 2009 10:27:09 GMT -7
Police: Security Video Shows Gunman in Synagogue Shooting
www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-noho-synagogue-shooting,0,5720530.story
NORTH HOLLYWOOD -- Police investigating a double shooting at a synagogue are looking into whether the shootings were related to a business or personal dispute.
Detectives now believe one of the victims was the target, and that a second victim may have been shot because he witnessed the attack.
Investigators say initial security camera footage from the synagogue shows the suspect but not the shooting. The quality of the video is too poor for police to identify the man, Cmdr. Jorge Villegas said.
Detectives later found more security cameras at the synagogue and were reviewing those tapes.
The shooting occurred Thursday morning at the Adat Yeshurun Valley Sepharic synagogue in the 12000 block of Sylvan Street.
The unidentified gunman walked into the underground parking garage at the synagogue shortly before 6:20 a.m., said LAPD Deputy Chief Michel Moore.
He approached a man in his 40s who was parking his car to attend prayer service.
"Without any words," Moore said, the suspect shot the man in the leg. He then fired at a second man in his 40s who had also arrived for prayers.
The second victim was also wounded in the leg. The gunman then fled from the garage.
Witnesses called 911.
The victims are identified as 38-year-old Mori Ben-Nissan and 53-year-old Allen Lasry.
The men were taken to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center and Valley Presbyterian Hospital, said Rabbi Yossi Malka, a chaplain with the LAPD.
Both were hospitalized in good condition.
Police initially detained a teenager near the temple because he matched a loose description of the attacker, who was described as a black man wearing a hoodie.
He was later released.
Detective Steve Castro says the student has no connection to the shooting.
All schools in the search area, including an elementary school affiliated with the synagogue, were notified by police to activate their security plans following the shooting, Moore said, adding that it was up to the schools to determine whether that included a lockdown situation.
There are some 18 synagogues in the North Hollywood area. Adat Yeshurun is located in an area with a large Orthodox Jewish population, with many kosher stores nearby.
Adat Yeshurun is the spritual home of families from Cuba, Argentina, Panama, Guatemala, Mexico, Morocco, Algiers, Tunisia, Libya and Israel.
The attack occurred 10 miles away from a 1999 shooting at a Jewish community center where white supremacist Buford Furrow wounded three children, a teenager and an adult. He later killed a letter carrier.
Furrow is serving a life sentence without chance of parole. He recently wrote a letter to the L.A. Daily News saying he had renounced his racist views and regretted the pain he had caused.
www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-noho-synagogue-shooting,0,5720530.story
NORTH HOLLYWOOD -- Police investigating a double shooting at a synagogue are looking into whether the shootings were related to a business or personal dispute.
Detectives now believe one of the victims was the target, and that a second victim may have been shot because he witnessed the attack.
Investigators say initial security camera footage from the synagogue shows the suspect but not the shooting. The quality of the video is too poor for police to identify the man, Cmdr. Jorge Villegas said.
Detectives later found more security cameras at the synagogue and were reviewing those tapes.
The shooting occurred Thursday morning at the Adat Yeshurun Valley Sepharic synagogue in the 12000 block of Sylvan Street.
The unidentified gunman walked into the underground parking garage at the synagogue shortly before 6:20 a.m., said LAPD Deputy Chief Michel Moore.
He approached a man in his 40s who was parking his car to attend prayer service.
"Without any words," Moore said, the suspect shot the man in the leg. He then fired at a second man in his 40s who had also arrived for prayers.
The second victim was also wounded in the leg. The gunman then fled from the garage.
Witnesses called 911.
The victims are identified as 38-year-old Mori Ben-Nissan and 53-year-old Allen Lasry.
The men were taken to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center and Valley Presbyterian Hospital, said Rabbi Yossi Malka, a chaplain with the LAPD.
Both were hospitalized in good condition.
Police initially detained a teenager near the temple because he matched a loose description of the attacker, who was described as a black man wearing a hoodie.
He was later released.
Detective Steve Castro says the student has no connection to the shooting.
All schools in the search area, including an elementary school affiliated with the synagogue, were notified by police to activate their security plans following the shooting, Moore said, adding that it was up to the schools to determine whether that included a lockdown situation.
There are some 18 synagogues in the North Hollywood area. Adat Yeshurun is located in an area with a large Orthodox Jewish population, with many kosher stores nearby.
Adat Yeshurun is the spritual home of families from Cuba, Argentina, Panama, Guatemala, Mexico, Morocco, Algiers, Tunisia, Libya and Israel.
The attack occurred 10 miles away from a 1999 shooting at a Jewish community center where white supremacist Buford Furrow wounded three children, a teenager and an adult. He later killed a letter carrier.
Furrow is serving a life sentence without chance of parole. He recently wrote a letter to the L.A. Daily News saying he had renounced his racist views and regretted the pain he had caused.