Following the shooting during an Independence Day parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park that killed at least six people, local Shliach Rabbi Yosef Schanowitz said he had witnessed the suspected shooter entering his Chabad Shul last Pesach.
Rabbi Schanowitz recognized the photo of 22-year-old Robert E. Crimo III released by police following the shooting, and realized he had encountered the suspect a few months earlier, according to the Israel National News website.
“During the last Passover holiday, that person entered the Chabad synagogue. We have an armed security guard sitting in front… I approached him and sternly asked him to leave as I noticed he was not a member of our community,” Schanowitz was quoted as saying.
He said he was in touch with the families of the victims and was “trying to be as helpful as we can at this difficult time.”
According to a report by The Forward, Schanowitz, whose synagogue is located two blocks away from the site of the shooting, helped shelter four teenage boys who were preparing a Chabad booth for the parade after shots were first heard.
After taking them in and making sure they called their parents, the Chabad rabbi drove to the Highland Park Hospital to visit the over 30 people injured in the incident.
“There was chaos… There was an overload of unexpected trauma,” he told The Forward.
But that didn’t stop the 66-year-old rabbi, who volunteered as a chaplain before the pandemic, from rushing to the emergency room and trying to comfort the injured while reciting the Shema prayer.
“I told them I was clergy and I wished them all the best,” Schanowitz said, noting that while “most of the people I saw were not of the Jewish faith, there were a few who were.”
He continued, “You have to do what you have to do. I thought I should at least make sure that there’s clergy on the premises.
“It just drives home that we’re living in an imperfect world, and we have work to do,” he said.
And Michla kept saying who is this guy? Is he even Jewish? He needs to leave. So creepy.. I remember it distinctly
B”H the shooter didn’t rifle up at the Chabad shul when he visited!
Having one guard at the front is a good start. Having more armed people who have training is even better.
Congregants, ask your Shul leaders what they are doing to ensure your safety. Don’t be that guy who props open a locked door. Have a backup plan in case C”V the security guard is a target.
People need to be mindful of security. It’s the unfortunate reality.
Many people in that shul carry heat. I’m from Highland Park. He would have had several guns firing back at him if he started up. I’m surprised security even let him in
Moshiach now
there are congregants who carry guns (inconspicuously) when going to shul.
assume the rabbi knows who is qualified to do so.
WHITE SUPREMACY IS TERRORISM!
What does WHITE SUPREMACY have to do with this? The shooter, who dressed like a woman, was an ANTIFA type. He’s a White kid who made rap songs and had tattoos on his face. He had knives confiscated from him years before but the oppressive Illinois laws didn’t work. Where was there anything about him being a WHITE SUPREMACIST? Now if you want to talk about TERRORISTS, yes, these lunatic leftists who can’t coexist in society and find it necessary to SCREAM and YELL and get violent, yes, those are TERRORISTS. There was no WHITE SUPREMACIST here, just a sad… Read more »
Don’t forget that. For example, consider the subway shooter last month.
770 needs a security guard too!
Not possible because your New York politicians want to make Shuls a “sensitive” area where firearms are prohibited.
One guard at the front is not the answer.
Ordinary, TRAINED civilians who are armed and carry with proper defensive ammunition are the best plan.
(Many people do not know that the ammo that is BANNED in some jurisdictions is actually the SAFEST in terms of over-penetration risk. HOLLOW POINT bullets save innocent lives.)