Timeline: John Earnest Accused in Poway Synagogue Shooting and Escondido Mosque Arson

3:15 a.m., March 24, 2019 - Someone sets fire to the Dar-ul-Arqam mosque in Escondido before early morning prayer. The mosque’s security camera spotted an unidentifiable person breaking a lock to a parking lot gate and then pouring a flammable liquid near a side door and setting it on fire.

April 26, 2019 - John Earnest picks up a rifle he had purchased from a federally licensed dealer. According to search warrants, Earnest purchased the gun for $963.41.

April 27, 2019:

10 a.m. - A document is published online in which the author takes responsibility for the mosque fire.

11:23 a.m. - A man with an assault-style rifle enters Chabad of Poway on Rancho Bernardo Road, west of Interstate 15 and opened fire on the people inside.

Approximately 11:30 a.m. - "I just shot up a synagogue," John T. Earnest, 19, tells a 911 CHP emergency line dispatcher according to court affadavit. He went on to tell the dispatcher he did it "because Jewish people are destroying the white race," according to the affidavit.

A San Diego police officer, en route to the scene while monitoring the sheriff's dispatch, sees the suspect vehicle. The suspect pulls over, jumps out of his car with his hands up and is taken into custody.

"As the officer was placing this 19-year-old male into custody, he clearly saw a rifle sitting on the front passenger seat of the suspect vehicle,"  SDPD Chief David Nisleit said.

April 29, 2019 - The Earnest family releases a statement condemning the actions of the suspect who was a graduate of Mount Carmel High School and student at Cal State San Marcos.

FBI confirms the agency had received tips about a threatening social media post about five minutes before the attack. The shooting took place before FBI workers were able to identify who wrote the post.

April 30, 2019 - Earnest is charged with one count of murder with a hate-crime special circumstance and gun allegations, three counts of attempted murder with hate-crime and gun allegations and one count of arson of a house of worship.

After the initial court hearing, San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan describes surveillance video that captured the shooting, saying the gun appeared to jam.

May 9, 2019 - John Timothy Earnest is charged with 109 new federal counts in connection with the deadly shooting at the Poway syngagogue and arson at a mosque in Escondido. 

May 14, 2019 - Earnest makes his first court appearance, pleading not guilty to federal hate crime charges. 

May 21, 2019 - A federal grand jury indicts Earnest in the deadly shooting at a synagogue in Poway last month and arson at an Escondido mosque; he is now facing 113 federal counts, including hate crimes.

June 27, 2019 - A coalition of local media outlets, including NBC 7 San Diego, asks a Superior Court judge to unseal 17 search warrants that contain new details about the attack on a Poway synagogue earlier this year. 

One of the warrants may identify the gun shop where Earnest purchased the weapon he allegedly used in the attack, reveal when he bought that rifle and possibly other firearms.

July 31, 2019 - Warrants reveal investigators found a “gun receipt and paperwork” that indicate Earnest purchased the rifle at “San Diego Guns.” A business by that name is located on Mission Gorge Road. According to the warrants, San Diego County Sheriff’s Deputies found a “hunting certificate” in Earnest’s bedroom.

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