Suspect’s family breaks silence on synagogue shooting
The family said it is cooperating with investigators and that “our heavy hearts will forever go out to the victims and survivors.”
Earnest reportedly wrote a manifesto related to the Chabad synagogue shooting containing anti-Semitic rhetoric and posted it on the online message board 8chan. It reportedly cited as inspiration last year’s shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, which left 11 dead, and the massacre at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, last month that left 50 dead. The suspect in that attack also posted a manifesto on 8chan and streamed live video of the shooting.
The FBI confirmed to CBS News that it received a tip five minutes before Earnest allegedly opened fire. The anonymous tip, submitted online, directed authorities to “an anonymous threatening post on a social media site.” Authorities were unable to identify the post’s author in the minutes before the attack took place.
Earnest surrendered to police shortly after the attack. He has been charged with one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder and is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.
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