Pico-Robertson, LA, CA – A Jewish man in his seventies was shot Thursday after leaving morning services at a synagogue in Los Angeles’ heavily Jewish neighborhood of Pico-Robertson, a day after another Jewish man was shot leaving morning services about two blocks away.
Neither victim was seriously injured. The suspect in both cases fled in a car.
The first incident occurred after the victim left services in a private residence. The second shooting occured after the victim left the Pinto Shul, an Orthodox synagogue.
Police at the scene of the second shooting said it was too early to say whether the incidents were related. They did not say whether either shooting was being investigated as a hate crime, and said the FBI was not currently involved.
After the second shooting, at 8:10 a.m., police swarmed the area, and several hours later several police vehicles and at least a dozen officers remained at the scene. Streets around the area remained blocked off for nearly four hours. After Wednesday’s incident, there was no visible police presence at the scene two hours after the incident occurred.
Police said the suspect in the second shooting was a white male wearing a black mask and black glasses and driving a gray sedan. On Wednesday police said the suspect in the first shooting was an Asian male.
Some Jewish and non-Jewish schools near the Pico-Robertson either locked down or restricted students from leaving campus after the shootings.
“It is sickening that in Los Angeles today, two Jews have been shot in the street in two days, as they were leaving prayers,” said Rabbi Yossi Eilfort in a statement. He is president of Magen Am, a Jewish security service that was on the scene Wednesday. “Regardless of the motivation of the shootings, Jews deserve to be secure, living and serving G-d in peace.”
Pico-Robertson is home to the city’s largest population of Orthodox Jews.
There were bloodstains on the sidewalk near where the second victim was shot. A bystander took a video of him being loaded onto an ambulance on a stretcher, and posted it on Instagram.
