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As more details emerge about themass shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue, worshipers and officials on the scene are speaking out about the rampage thatkilled 11 people and injured six.
“When this first went down, we didn’t know the full deal,” an EMT on the scene tells PEOPLE. “We just know that shots were fired, with multiple victims. Everyone went — police, EMT, everyone. The bomb squad went.”
“When we got there, we knew it was bad,” continues the EMT. “These people didn’t have a chance.”
The EMT’s voice begins to break as he recounts what he saw. “This was bad. All tragedies are bad,” he says. “But when a little old lady … an old man… They can’t run away. Some can’t even duck down to hide. What chance did they have? None.”
“We couldn’t save everyone,” he says. “I wish we could have saved everyone.”
The sight of the carnage at the synagogue left some visibly shaken.
Prosecutors have said the suspect allegedly made anti-Semitic statements during the massacre, talking of genocide. He faces a slew of state and federal charges and could be sentenced to death. He has not entered a plea.
• For more on the 11 lives lost in the Pittsburgh synagogue rampage, pick upthis week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
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Perry Hagopian
Dr. Jeff Cohen, president of Allegheny General Hospital where the suspected shooter was treated, is also a member of the synagogue and lives across the street.
Cohen notes the irony that the medical personnel who treated the alleged gunman were the very people who were attacked. “When he got out of the ambulance, I was told that he was screaming, ‘Kill all the Jews,’ ” Cohen tells PEOPLE. “But his nurse was Jewish and his doctor in the emergency room was Jewish and I’m Jewish.”
“It’s just surreal,” he says. “That’s not what Pittsburgh is. What Pittsburgh is are the first responders who run toward the danger to make sure everybody is safe. And the nurses and the doctors they don’t judge, they just take care of patients.”
Zachary Weiss, 26, a Tree of Life congregation member whose father was filling in as a rabbi during the services on Saturday, tells PEOPLE the shooter had easy access to the synagogue — as a place of worship, it practices “an open-door policy.”
Weiss says that, according to his dad, a loud noise rang out during the shooting, and after people went outside to investigate more loud noises were heard.
At that point, another rabbi told congregants to get behind a safe area as it dawned on those inside that they were hearing gunshots.
According to Weiss, the synagogue building hosts three congregations, which were holding separate events, including a bris.
Weiss’ father walked through the facility to check on the safety of the other congregations. Weiss soon heard about the shooting and wanted to reach his dad — but he didn’t want to call his cell phone in case he was hiding from the shooter.
Among the six injured, four were police officers, authorities have said.
The youngest of the slain victims was 54, killed with his brother. The oldest was 97, shot near her daughter.
Says Dr. Cohen: “If you told me this would happen outside my door, I would have told you you need medication.”
source: people.com
