Lori Gilbert Kaye threw herself in path of bullets as John Earnest named as suspect in attack

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A woman who threw herself in front of the rabbi at their synagogue’s Passover celebration as shots rang out, losing her life but probably saving his, was hailed a hero by a small California community that was in shock and mourning on Sunday.

Lori Gilbert Kaye, 60, died in the shooting on Saturday at the synagogue in Poway, 20 miles north of San Diego. County police detained a 19-year-old man after the shooting that injured three, including a little girl, her uncle, and the rabbi, Yisroel Goldstein.

“Lori took the bullet for all of us,” Goldstein said outside the synagogue on Sunday afternoon, with thick bandages on his hands.

Rabbi wounded in synagogue shooting says ‘senseless hate’ killings must stop Read more

Goldstein said he received a phone call from Donald Trump, who emphasized his “love of peace, Judaism and Israel”. Goldstein said he found the call comforting.

And an eyewitness told the Guardian that he had confronted the suspect, who was scared and fled.

Authorities identified the suspect as John Earnest, who had posted an antisemitic screed online in the form of an “open letter”. San Diego county sheriff William Gore said the teenager could be charged with hate crimes. On Sunday afternoon he was charged with one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder. He is also being investigated in connection with an arson attack on a mosque in the nearby city of Escondido in March.

Authorities believe the suspect acted alone and that his assault style weapon may have malfunctioned during the attack, preventing further casualties.

At a rally on Saturday night Donald Trump said the entire nation “stands in solidarity with the Jewish community”, while the Israeli president, Reuven Rivlin, said the attack was “yet another painful reminder that antisemitism and hatred of Jews is still with us, everywhere”.

Play Video 1:45 'She took the bullet for all of us': rabbi recounts San Diego synagogue shooting

The Israeli diaspora minister, Naftali Bennett, described Kaye as “a Jewish hero” who had thrown herself “in the path of the murderer’s bullets to save the life of the rabbi”.

Israeli officials also confirmed that two of the wounded were Israeli nationals. Eight-year-old Noya Dahan, and her uncle Almog Peretz, 34, had moved to San Diego a few years ago and were hit by shrapnel during the attack.

Lori Gilbert Kaye lived in Poway, and her husband and a daughter witnessed her slaying on Saturday. The rabbi, Yisroel Goldstein, in a phone interview with CNN from the hospital, where he had had surgery for wounds to his hands, called her a “wonderful human being” who was constantly helping others.

Ariella Lee, a close friend of Kaye and member of synagogue, tearfully paid tribute to her, telling the Guardian: “She would feed us. She would bring over gifts. I’m sure every single member of my family right now is wearing something that she gave us. She was generous and loving and I hope that we can all be like her because she’s absolutely one of a kind. Words cannot say how wonderful of a person she is.”

She added: “We throw out ‘generous’ and ‘loving’ and ‘kind,’ loosely, and honestly it belittles the words for her, because she’s beyond those things … She’s the real deal. It hurts so, so much that it was Lori, but to the last moment she was giving.”

Many bouquets and notes were left outside the synagogue on Sunday.

“We will build this world from love,” read one sign.

Another, with a drawing of the star of David and the outline of tears, said: “May love, peace and wisdom prevail.”

One simple note posted to a utility pole said: “Poway stands with you.”

Marie Craig, who described herself as Kaye’s best friend, told the Guardian: “I just cleaned out her car…[there were] gift cards, greeting cards and a basket of gifts, because she’s always wanting to do good.”

A vigil is expected to take place at the synagogue on Sunday evening, and Kaye’s funeral will take place there on Monday afternoon.

The San Diego county sheriff, William Gore, said Earnest was from the city and had no prior arrests.

As the shooter fled, an off-duty border patrol agent inside the synagogue opened fire, missing him but striking his getaway vehicle, Gore said.

Earnest called 911 shortly afterward to report the shooting, the San Diego police chief, David Nisleit, said. When an officer reached the man on a roadway, “the suspect pulled over, jumped out of his car with his hands up and was immediately taken into custody”, Nisleit said.

Eyewitness Oscar Stewart, from Rancho Bernardo, a military veteran who fought in Iraq and was worshipping at the celebration for the last day of Passover, told the Guardian how he chased the shooter.

He told the Guardian: “I was in the sanctuary and I heard gunshots. I saw him discharge two more rounds … I ran up to him and I yelled at him and he dropped his weapon and he ran out. He looked scared.”

The gun was on a sling around his neck, so it did not fall to the ground, Stewart said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lori Gilbert Kaye was killed in the attack. ‘She was generous and loving and I hope that we can all be like her because she’s absolutely one of a kind,’ a friend said. Photograph: Facebook

“I didn’t plan it. I didn’t think about it. It’s just what I did. He stopped firing. I called him a son of a bitch … I said ‘I’m going to kill you’, and I chased him onto the street.”

Stewart said the suspect got in his car. An off-duty border patrol officer was at the synagogue, armed.

“He came out and yelled ‘clear back, I have a gun.’ And so I moved back. I’m glad he was a trained officer. If he had been somebody else I may have been shot.”

The officer shot at the car. But the suspect drove off. Stewart went back inside.

“I saw the rabbi. He was bleeding from his hands. I immediately went to the lady on the floor and started doing CPR on her. And she didn’t make it.”

Others helped try to revive her, then another man rushed over – who turned out to be Kaye’s husband.

“He didn’t realize it was his wife until after he said ‘she’s not breathing, she’s not breathing.’ And so he went to check her pulse, and when he went to check her pulse he realized it was his wife. It’s horrible.”

The sheriff, Gore, said that Stewart “risked his life to stop the shooter and saved lives in the process.”

The mayor of Poway, Steve Vaus, said the gunman was “someone with hate in their heart … towards our Jewish community and that just will not stand.”

The incident came on the last day of Passover and exactly six months since a shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue killed 11 people.

Gore said investigators were reviewing the suspect’s social media posts and that he was also being investigated in relation to an arsonattack at a mosque last month in Escondido, 15 miles away.

A person who identified as John Earnest wrote an online post citing deadly attacks on mosques in New Zealand and Pittsburgh synagogue last year.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest San Diego county sheriff Bill Gore, center, arrives with other law enforcement officials outside of the Chabad of Poway synagogue. Photograph: Denis Poroy/AP

Abraham Gelebert, from nearby Rancho Bernardo, was dropping off an Uber passenger when he stumbled upon the scene. To him, the blame for such incidents was obvious. “

“This is going to keep happening more and more … I think it’s the politics of Washington,” he told the Guardian. Behind him, a young woman, in tears, sat staring at the community centre across the street. “The lack of tolerance. We’re just taking a downslide. Instead of forming better relationships with our neighbours, different races and groups, we’re just steadily going in the opposite direction.

Gelebert added: “The leadership at the top is important, and it certainly doesn’t take much to push those who are already on the edge.”

Beyond a change at the White House, he believed there was a need for far stricter gun control.

“The easier it is for people to obtain firearms, especially those that have mental illness, the more likely these incidents are to happen. There’s an undeniable connection,” he said. “Those that refuse to accept that are living on another planet.”

Jamiles Lartey, Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report