Minutes before a gunman opened fire on a Poway synagogue Saturday, someone discovered an anonymous anti-Semitic manifesto posted online and told the FBI — but it was too late.

The tip came in about five minutes before the shooting and included a link to the threatening post. But it didn’t contain information about the author or the location that was threatened, according to the FBI. Bureau employees immediately took action to determine who wrote the post, but the deadly shooting occurred before the suspect could be identified.

John T. Earnest, a 19-year-old Rancho Peñasquitos resident, is accused of killing 60-year-old Lori Gilbert-Kaye during a Passover service at Chabad of Poway. Three others -- founding Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, 8-year-old Noya Dahan, and her uncle, Almog Peretz, 34 -- were injured.


On Monday, the District Attorney’s Office charged Earnest with one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder — including allegations that the attack was a hate crime. He was also charged with setting a fire at an Escondido mosque in March.

The author of the manifesto took credit for the arson, but authorities had not connected Earnest to the crime until Monday.

“It is reassuring now that we don’t have to look over our shoulder,” said Yusef Miller, who attends the Escondido mosque.

Earnest, who will be arraigned Tuesday in San Diego Superior Court, will be represented by the Public Defender’s Office.


In the lengthy online manifesto, the author details his “disgust” for Jews and his admiration for the perpetrators of other mass shootings, including the gunman who killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue six months earlier. He wrote that it took four weeks to plan the attack.

San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said Sunday that investigators believe Earnest acted alone and without outside support.

On Monday, a 25-year-old California man who told the Union-Tribune he was the FBI tipster said he found the manifesto about five minutes after it was posted online.

He posted about his discovery on Twitter, writing in part: “... there is about to be a mass shooting. I’m trying to figure out how to report it.”


The man, who requested anonymity for fear of harassment, was afraid he might not be taken seriously, but a number of alarming details in the post — a photograph of a man with a rifle, fatalistic words used by the poster, a reference to the Escondido mosque fire — pushed him to make the call.

The FBI, he said, “took it very seriously and acted very quickly.”

On Saturday, about 11:20 a.m., a man in sunglasses, a military-style tactical vest and carrying an AR-15-style rifle walked into the Chabad of Poway and opened fire.

The gunman — whose weapon “miraculously” jammed, the rabbi said — took off. One worshiper chased after him, as did an off-duty Border Patrol agent, who fired several shots, striking the gunman’s car.


The suspect called 911 soon after, authorities said, saying he had been involved in a shooting. A San Diego police canine officer heard the call and found the suspect at Rancho Bernardo Road and Interstate 15.

Earnest was arrested without incident. A weapon was found on the front passenger seat of the car. Investigators haven’t said where or how the gun was obtained or if it was registered to Earnest.

The investigation into the Poway shooting soon led investigators to Escondido, where the mosque fire had left a community on edge.

The blaze was reported outside the Dar-ul-Arqam Mosque about 3:15 a.m. on March 24 — a little more than a month before.


One of the seven people inside the building spotted the flames, and the group doused the fire. Authorities said the arsonist used an accelerant. In the mosque’s driveway, investigators found vandalism referencing the March 15 shootings at two New Zealand mosques that left 50 people dead.

On Monday, Miller said news that charges had been brought in the case gave a bit of closure but that vigilance would remain.

“By no means do I feel we are going to be comfortable now,” said Miller, a board member for the Islamic Society of North County.

He later added: “We have changed our situational awareness as a community. ... We are happy this person has been caught, but his ideas are not in a vacuum.”


Earnest’s family released a statement Monday saying they were mystified by their son’s apparently extremist beliefs, adding his actions “were informed by people we do not know, and ideas we do not hold.”

The family’s lawyer, Earll M. Pott, said the family does not anticipate making any more public statements until their son’s criminal case is resolved.

“This is a very tight-knit family. A large, loving family,” Pott said Monday. “They are absolutely in a state of shock.”

The family’s full statement reads:


“We are shocked and deeply saddened by the terrible attack on the Chabad of Poway synagogue. But our sadness pales in comparison to the grief and anguish our son has caused for so many innocent people. He has killed and injured the faithful who were gathered in a sacred place on a sacred day. To our great shame, he is now part of the history of evil that has been perpetrated on Jewish people for centuries.

“Our son’s actions were informed by people we do not know, and ideas we do not hold. Like our other five children, he was raised in a family, a faith, and a community that all rejected hate and taught that love must be the motive for everything we do. How our son was attracted to such darkness is a terrifying mystery to us, though we are confident that law enforcement will uncover many details of the path that he took to this evil and despicable act. To that end, our family is cooperating with investigators. We ask only that the media and the public respect our privacy and allow the criminal justice system to work.

“Our heavy hearts will forever go out to the victims and survivors. Our thanks go to the first responders who prevented even greater loss of life and the well-wishers who have supported us. And we pray for peace.”