San Diego police and sheriff’s deputies increased patrols around synagogues and houses of worship Sunday following a deadly mass shooting during a Hanukkah celebration on a beach in Australia.
Both departments said there were no known local threats, but they added the patrols “out of an abundance of caution.”
“We understand the real fear that acts of violence like this spread among our communities. It is a reminder for all of us to remain vigilant,” San Diego police said on the social media platform X.
The Associated Press reported that 16 people were killed, including a child, after two gunmen opened fire on the celebration on Bondi Beach. At least 38 others were injured. Police fatally shot one of the gunmen. The other was arrested and being treated at a hospital.
There is a local connection. Among those killed was the nephew of Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein of Chabad Poway, who is a rabbi and was leading the Bondi Beach service.
Goldstein posted about it on the Chabad’s Facebook page Sunday afternoon, saying “this attack feels deeply personal.” He said his grandniece and grandnephew were also injured in the shooting. Goldstein himself was wounded in a mass shooting at the Chabad of Poway synagogue six years ago.
That shooting occurred during a Sabbath service on the last day of Passover, in April 2019, when a 19-year-old gunman entered the Poway synagogue and opened fire. He killed one congregant and wounded three others, including Goldstein and a child.
Investigators later learned the shooter had also set fire at an Escondido mosque a month earlier. Seven people had been asleep inside. No one was injured.
Shortly before the attack, the gunman had posted an “open letter” online, referencing deadly mass shootings at Pittsburgh synagogue in October 2018 and at New Zealand mosques in March 2019.
The gunman pleaded guilty in 2021 and was sentenced to life in prison. He also pleaded guilty to hate crimes and other charges in federal court and was sentenced to life plus 30 years.