A gunman opened fire at a San Diego synagogue only to have his rampage cut short by a good Samaritan, forcing him to flee.
When first responders arrived, there were four casualties, including one fatality: 60-year-old Lori Gilbert-Kaye.
But it could have been even worse.
Shortly after the assailant entered the crowded Chabad of Poway synagogue, an off-duty U.S. Border Patrol agent returned fire. He missed the suspect but hit his vehicle. (NBC 7)
“We didn’t hear him screaming or saying anything. He was just focused to kill. You saw the hate and the murder in his eyes,” Danny Almong, a witness, told NBC 7. “He had a vest and he had clips in the vest. He was ready. He was ready. He came in to kill.”
The suspect was identified as John T. Earnest, 19, a graduate of Mount Carmel High School and student at Cal State San Marcos. Earnest does not have a criminal history and has no apparent connection with white supremacist groups, according to San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore.
Near the freeway, a San Diego police officer was en route to the scene while monitoring the sheriff’s dispatch when he saw the suspect vehicle.
The suspect pulled over, jumped out of his car with his hands up and was taken into custody, SDPD Chief David Nisleit said.