Man arrested for shootings of 2 Orthodox Jews in LA

A suspect has been arrested for two separate shootings of Orthodox Jewish men who were ambushed while leaving synagogues in Los Angeles this week.

Police have said the two attacks, which took place Wednesday and Thursday, are connected and being investigated as hate crimes.

The LAPD said the male suspect who was taken into custody Thursday “is responsible for the two shootings in West Los Angeles.” 

The accused gunman had not been publicly named as of Friday morning. He was described only as an Asian man with a mustache and a goatee.

According to a law enforcement source, the suspect has a history of animus toward Jewish people, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The first incident took place before 10 a.m. Wednesday when a 47-year-old man wearing a traditional yarmulke was shot while walking in the 1400 block of Shenandoah Street to his car.

Police said the shooter fired at the victim from a car and then drove away.

The second attack occurred around 8:30 a.m. Thursday a block away from the first crime scene at the intersection of Pickford and Bedford streets.

An Orthodox Jewish man in his 70s was shot in the arm by a man driving a white car.

Ring video from a neighbor’s home that was obtained by CBS LA shows the victim standing on the sidewalk with blood streaming down his right arm.

Both victims are in stable condition and are expected to survive.

Jeffery Abrams, regional director for the Anti-Defamation League Los Angeles, said the victims were shot after leaving prayer services at houses of worship in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood, which is home to a sizeable Jewish community.

Local resident Vivian Eisenstaedt said she knows one of the victims and spoke with him after the shooting.

“He keeps saying that this is a miracle that nothing [worse] happened to him … and he just wants to move on,” she told KTLA.

According to the LAPD, the suspect in the shootings was tracked to Riverside County and apprehended without incident Thursday evening. Detectives allegedly recovered a rifle and a handgun.

“The facts of the case led to this crime being investigated as a hate crime,” police said without disclosing a motive.

Police have stepped up their presence and patrols around synagogues in LA out of “an abundance of caution” in the wake of the back-to-back shootings.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass condemned the hate-fueled incidents in a tweet.

“These attacks against members of our Jewish community are unacceptable,” she wrote.

LA City Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, whose district includes the Pico-Robertson neighborhood where both shootings occurred, called the incidents “deeply concerning.”

“We have seen a rise in antisemitic attacks in recent months, and while there remain questions on the motivation of these particular shootings, we cannot ignore the pain and trauma that they have triggered in the community,” she tweeted.