Man fires shotgun outside Jewish temple in upstate New York as Hanukkah begins, no one injured
ALBANY, N.Y. — A man fired a shotgun twice outside a Jewish temple in upstate New York, hours before the start of Hanukkah on Thursday, then said “Free Palestine” as he was taken into custody, police said. No one was injured.
The episode in the state capital of Albany took place amid rising fears of antisemitism worldwide and fallout from Israel’s intensifying war in Gaza, which faces heightened criticism for the mounting Palestinian death toll. Israel’s bombardment and ground war in Gaza started after the deadly Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants inside southern Israel.
The gunfire outside Temple Israel happened at around 2 p.m. and a 28-year-old man was in custody, according to officials. Police did not identify the man, but Gov. Kathy Hochul said he was a local resident.
A passerby talked to the gunman near the temple about 10 minutes after the shots were fired. The man dropped the shotgun before officers arrived on the scene and detained him, Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins told reporters at the scene.
“We were told by responding officers that he made a comment, ‘Free Palestine,’” Hawkins said.
Across the Los Angeles area, home to the second-largest Jewish community in the United States, Jews are unsure how they want to celebrate Hanukkah as the bloodshed continues in the Middle East.
The chief said the episode was being investigated as a hate crime and that there was no indication other people were involved. The FBI office in Albany confirmed it was investigating along with other law enforcement agencies.
Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan said children had been at a preschool inside the building when the shots were fired. Hochul said the facility went into lockdown and that parents have since been reunited with their kids.
The governor called the episode particularly deplorable because it occurred at the start of Hanukkah, which began Thursday evening at sundown.
“The prospect of violence in a place of worship is not just an attack on a building, it’s an attack on the very fabric of our society, our freedom to express our faith, our collective shared sense of safety,” Hochul said at a briefing in New York City.
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