San Diego

Suspect in Poway Synagogue Shooting to Stand Trial

San Diego resident John T. Earnest, 20, has pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder, both with hate-crime and gun allegations, and arson of a house of worship. He also faces more than 110 federal charges.

A judge decided that the Poway synagogue shooter will stand trial. NBC 7’s Melissa Adan has the latest information.

A 20-year-old former college student will stand trial on charges of firing an assault rifle inside a synagogue, killing one woman and injuring three, including a rabbi and an 8-year-old girl, a judge ruled Friday.

Superior Court Judge Peter C. Deddeh ordered John T. Earnest to stand trial on charges of murder and attempted murder at the synagogue and arson for a fire at a nearby mosque. Earnest has pleaded not guilty to all allegations. 

If convicted of the murder charge, classified as a hate crime, he would be eligible for the death penalty, but prosecutors have not said what punishment they plan to seek.

The ruling was made after the final witness, an Israeli visitor who was injured that day, took the stand. 

Almog Peretz, speaking through an interpreter, described looking the shooter in the face and said he "recognize(s) his face, the frame of his face," as the same man sitting in court, Earnest. 

"There was smoke, the smoke disappeared, I saw his face and recognized his face quickly. He was standing like this with his weapon like a soldier," Peretz said. 

He described scooping up at one child and pulling his niece Noya Dahan by the hand as he ran to exit the synagogue. He said at least 10 kids eventually ran with him as he escaped to the rabbi's house nearby.

He noticed his niece was hurt shortly after but didn't realize he was shot in the leg until he ran back to the synagogue.

"My adrendaline was coursing so I didn’t pay attention but after I returned to the synagogue I saw blood on my jeans," Peretz said. 

Two victims of the shooting did not testify during the preliminary hearing, eight year old Dahan and Chabad of Poway Rabbi Israel Goldstein. 

Without their testimony, Deddeh ruled there was enough evidence to send Earnest to trial. He is next expected in court on October 3. 

Prosecutors on Thursday played a 12-minute recording of the gunman calmly telling a 911 dispatcher that he had just "shot up" a synagogue to save white people from Jews, describing terms for a peaceful surrender and scolding law enforcement for taking too much time to find him in his parked car.

A witness in the synagogue shooting hopes his experience will shine a light on the long-lasting mental pain of surviving a tragedy. NBC 7's Danny Freeman has more.

The recording was heard publicly for the first time during a dramatic day in court that included surveillance video of the shooting and a congregant describing how he singlehandedly confronted the gunman and chased him away.

NBC 7
An image of evidence presented in the Sept. 19, 2019 pretrial hearing for John T. Earnest, the man accused of opening fire inside a Poway synagogue on the last day of Passover.
Richard Wilson
More than half a dozen police cars were seen along Rancho Bernardo Road outside Phil’s BBQ -- roughly two miles away from the temple --- where the suspect was apprehended. The 19-year-old pulled over, jumped out of his car with his hands up and was taken into custody, SDPD Chief David Nisleit said. "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," he said.
U.S. Army
A man approaches Chabad of Poway with a rifle raised in this image from surveillance video presented as evidence in the trial of John T. Earnest.
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Prosecutors submitted surveillance video from the synagogue depicting the shooting.
Melissa Adan/NBC 7
Images taken outside Chabad of Poway on Monday, April 29, the afternoon of the funeral service for shooting victim Lori Gilbert-Kaye.
Denis Poroy/AP
People gather and react outside of the Chabad of Poway synagogue on April 27, 2019, in Poway, California.
NBC Nightly News
An image of evidence presented in the Sept. 19, 2019 pretrial hearing for John T. Earnest, the man accused of opening fire inside a Poway synagogue on the last day of Passover. This is an image of the defendant's car.
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An image of evidence presented in the Sept. 19, 2019 pretrial hearing for John T. Earnest. This is the view of the passenger seat of the vehicle driven by Earnest.
NBC Nightly News
An image of evidence presented in the Sept. 19, 2019 pretrial hearing for John T. Earnest. This is the rifle and ammunition deputies say they found inside Earnest's vehicle.
NBC Nightly News
An image of a receipt listing a purchase by John T. Earnest on April 13, 2019.
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An image of a receipt listing a purchase by John T. Earnest on April 13, 2019.
KARE-TV
An image of a hunting license acquired by John T. Earnest presented by prosecutors in court on Sept. 19, 2019.
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An image of a hunting license acquired by John T. Earnest presented by prosecutors in court on Sept. 19, 2019.
NBC 7
An image of a hunting license acquired by John T. Earnest presented by prosecutors in court on Sept. 19, 2019.
Crystal Whitman
Images taken outside Chabad of Poway on Monday, April 29, the afternoon of the funeral service for shooting victim Lori Gilbert-Kaye.
Crystal Whitman
One of the signs at a memorial in honor of the victims of the synagogue shooting said, “We will build this world from LOVE.”

Earnest sat stone-faced with his arms folded on his lap during hours of testimony Thursday about the attack on the Chabad of Poway synagogue on April 27, the last day of Passover.

"I'm defending our nation against the Jewish people, who are trying to destroy all white people," the 911 caller, who identified himself as John Earnest, told the dispatcher in an even, almost casual tone.

Earnest gave the dispatcher details of where he was waiting for police in his Honda Civic, naming businesses he saw. He promised to leave his AR-15 assault rifle on the passenger seat and get out of the car with a supply of bullets hanging on the chest of his vest, as if his surrender had been planned in advance.

As the caller spoke about his hatred of Jews, another dispatcher steered him back to describing where he was. He readily answered all questions.

A SDPD K-9 officer testified on Sept. 19. 2019 that this is what he saw in the front seat of Earnest's car when he was taken into custody in Rancho Bernardo moments after a shooting at a Poway synagogue.

Twice during the call, he expressed impatience that law enforcement hadn't arrived, saying they were bad at their jobs.

"You guys are taking a long-ass time. You realize you're fighting the wrong people?" he said.

San Diego police Officer Jonathan Wiese testified that he sped north on Interstate 15 at about 130 mph as reports of a shooting in suburban Poway came in over his radio. It took him just under 10 minutes to find Earnest alone.

A suspected gunman calmly speaks with CHP dispatch after he allegedly opened fire on congregants at the Chabad of Poway in April. The 911 call was played in court.

The suspect got out of his car as promised, kneeled as ordered, then rose to his feet after being handcuffed.

"His first statement was, 'How's your day going?' " said Wiese, who responded with profanity to indicate it was going badly.

Wiese, who is white, said Earnest asked him if he knew "what the Jews have done to our race."

NBC 7's Catherine Garcia sat down with District Attorney Summer Stephan to talk about what constitutes a hate crime, and how her office investigates hate-related incidents.

Oscar Stewart, an electrician who is married with a stepdaughter, spoke publicly for the first time about confronting Earnest as shots rang from the lobby.

"People were falling over each other. It was chaos," he said. "I screamed (to everyone) 'Get down! Get out here.' "

Stewart, 51, was standing toward the back of the service when shots rang. He said he took three or four steps to flee then turned around for reasons he still can't explain, perhaps "a sense of duty." He saw the shooter in the lobby fire two rounds and rushed toward him.

The Poway Synagogue shooting suspect is in court. NBC 7's Melissa Adan brings us the latest information revealed.

"He was firing in front of me." Stewart said. "I was paying attention to the rifle."

As the gunman struggled to reload, Stewart said he relied on combat training to try to distract him from his plan of attack.

"I told him I was going to kill him," said Stewart, who served in the Persian Gulf War as a Navy bomb disposal expert, joined the Army after the 9/11 attacks and fought in Iraq for 13 months. "I screamed it out really loud. I kept screaming at him."

NBC 7
An image of evidence presented in the Sept. 19, 2019 pretrial hearing for John T. Earnest, the man accused of opening fire inside a Poway synagogue on the last day of Passover.

Stewart walked across the street after the suspect fled, as shown in the surveillance video, and banged on the side of his car. He worried the shooter might attack a church next door or a grocery store down the street.

Stewart got out of the way after an off-duty Border Patrol agent at the service said from behind that he had a gun. The agent fired about five shots as the gunman drove away erratically, "like pedal to the floor."

Back in the synagogue lobby, Stewart said he checked on a rabbi whose hand was bleeding from a gunshot wound and performed CPR on Lori Kaye, 60, who died.

Dr. Howard Kaye, came to help and recognized his wife.

"He let out like a groan, and he fainted," Stewart said.

The suspect's parents said in a statement that their son is now a part of a "history of evil," but said their sadness pales in comparison to the pain their son has caused. NBC 7's Artie Ojeda has more.

The day before the synagogue shooting, Earnest bought a Smith & Wesson AR-15 rifle from a San Diego gun shop, according to federal charges. Officials have said he bought the gun legally.

Weeks before the attack, Earnest tried to burn down a mosque in nearby Escondido, where seven people on a spiritual retreat were sleeping, prosecutors say. They awoke to flames and managed to extinguish the fire.

Outside the mosque, authorities say, the suspect had scrawled the name of a man accused of shootings at two mosques in New Zealand that killed 51 people earlier this year.

See a timeline of events from the Escondido mosque fire in March 2019 to the FBI's investigation and more, here

Melissa Adan/NBC 7
Images taken outside Chabad of Poway on Monday, April 29, the afternoon of the funeral service for shooting victim Lori Gilbert-Kaye.
NBC 7
Hannah Kaye (L) and her father Howard Kaye, M.D. talk about their mother/wife Lori Gilbert-Kaye at her funeral service on Monday, April, 29, 2019.
Melissa Adan/NBC 7
Images taken outside Chabad of Poway on Monday, April 29, the afternoon of the funeral service for shooting victim Lori Gilbert-Kaye.
Melissa Adan/NBC 7
Images taken outside Chabad of Poway on Monday, April 29, the afternoon of the funeral service for shooting victim Lori Gilbert-Kaye.
Crystal Whitman
Images taken outside Chabad of Poway on Monday, April 29, the afternoon of the funeral service for shooting victim Lori Gilbert-Kaye.
David McNew/Getty Images
People attend a prayer and candlelight vigil at Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church on April 27, 2019, in Poway, California.
David McNew/Getty Images
People attend a prayer and candlelight vigil at Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church on April 27, 2019, in Poway, California.
AP
A couple holds candles during a vigil held for victims of the Chabad of Poway synagogue shooting, Sunday, April 28, 2019, in Poway, California.
David McNew/Getty Images
People attend a prayer and candlelight vigil at Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church on April 27, 2019, in Poway, California. A gunman opened fire at the Chabad of Poway synagogue on the last day of Passover, leaving one person dead and three others injured. The suspect is in custody.
AP
Noya Dahan, 8, rides on the shoulders of her father, Israel Dahan, at a candlelight vigil held for victims of the Chabad of Poway synagogue shooting, Sunday, April 28, 2019, in Poway, California. Dahan was one of the people injured when a 19-year-old gunman opened fire at the synagogue, killing one person and injuring three others.
Getty Images
People embrace outside the Chabad of Poway synagogue on April 27, 2019, in Poway, California.
AP
Leslie Gollub, left, and Gretchen Gordon hug at a vigil held to support the victims of Saturday's shooting at Chabad of Poway synagogue, Sunday, April 28, 2019, in Poway, California.
Denis Poroy/AP
People gather and react outside of the Chabad of Poway synagogue on April 27, 2019, in Poway, California. A 19-year-old man opened fire inside the synagogue near San Diego as worshippers celebrated the last day of a major Jewish holiday, killing a woman and injuring three other people. A rabbi who was injured in the shooting said the gunman's gun jammed, preventing more deaths or injuries.
NBC 7
A 19-year-old San Diego man with a rifle entered Chabad of Poway on Rancho Bernardo Road, west of Interstate 15 at 11:23 a.m. and opened fire on the people inside, law enforcement officials said.
Richard Wilson
More than half a dozen police cars were seen along Rancho Bernardo Road outside Phil’s BBQ -- roughly two miles away from the temple --- where the suspect was apprehended. The 19-year-old pulled over, jumped out of his car with his hands up and was taken into custody, SDPD Chief David Nisleit said. "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," he said.
Richard Wilson
As the suspect fled the scene, an off-duty U.S. Border Patrol agent who was in the synagogue at the time of the shooting opened fire on the suspect, missing the man but striking his vehicle, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said.
NBC 7
One woman died from injuries suffered in the shooting. A girl and two adult men were injured and rushed to Palomar Medical Center Poway, officials confirmed at 2:30 p.m.
NBC 7
A memorial of flowers and signs began growing outside the synagogue. One of the signs said, “Our thoughts & prayers are with you. May the community know no more sorrow.”
NBC 7
President Donald Trump commented on the shooting, saying, "We're doing some very heavy research we'll see what happens, what comes up, at this moment it looks like a hate crime, but my deepest sympathies to all of those affected and we'll get to the bottom of it."
Crystal Whitman
One of the signs at a memorial in honor of the victims of the synagogue shooting said, “We will build this world from LOVE.”
NBC 7
This is Lori Kane and Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, two victims of the shooting. 60-year-old Kane died from injuries suffered in the shooting and 57-year-old Rabbi Goldstein suffered injuries to index fingers.
NBC 7
This is the last picture taken of Lori Kane (Third from left) at her best-friends daughter's graduation taken on Friday, Apr. 26.
A city-wide prayer vigil was held Sunday night at Valle Verde Community Park at 7 p.m. where Rabbi Goldstein and mayor, Steve Vaus from Poway were in attendance
This is eight-year-old Noya Dahan, one of the youngest victims in the shooting, she sustained shrapnel injuries and was released out of the hospital the same day the shooting happened.
This is 34-year-old Almog Peretz, one of the victims, he sustained shrapnel and gunshot wounds in his legs and face. He has been released from the hospital.
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