The names of the 11 people killed in Saturday's attack on a synagogue in Pittsburgh have been released, with the oldest aged 97.
The victims, shot down in what authorities said was a 20-minute rampage after the gunman burst into the building during a baby-naming ceremony, ranged in age from 54 to 97, said Karl Williams, the county medical examiner.
They included two brothers and one married couple.
Four police officers or SWAT team members were injured. Bowers himself has been hospitalised in fair condition with multiple gunshot wounds.
The ages of the 11 victims ranged from 54 to 97. They are:
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- Joyce Fienberg, 75
- Richard Gottfried, 65
- Rose Mallinger, 97
- Jerry Rabinowitz, 66
- Cecil Rosenthal, 59
- David Rosenthal, 54, brother of Cecil
- Bernice Simon, 84
- Sylvan Simon, 86, husband of Bernice
- Daniel Stein, 71
- Melvin Wax, 88
- Irving Younger, 69
President Donald Trump, speaking at a campaign rally in Illinois, solemnly denounced the attack, saying, "The scourge of anti-Semitism cannot be ignored, cannot be tolerated and cannot be allowed to continue."
Earlier, however, he said one answer to such apparent hate crimes was to provide guards at places of worship, not to tighten the country's loose gun laws.
But the mayor of Pittsburgh had a different approach, calling for guns to be taken away from potential hate criminals.
"I think the approach that we need to be looking at is how we take the guns, which is the common denominator of every mass shooting in America, out of the hands of those that are looking to express hatred through murder," Mayor Bill Peduto, a Democrat, told the news conference.
'We will spare no effort'
Scott Brady, US attorney for Pennsylvania's Western District, said the suspect was heavily armed, carrying an AR-15 assault rifle and three .357-caliber Glock handguns, all of which he used. Brady said shells were found strewn through the grisly crime scene, but he could not estimate the number of shots fired.
"We will spare no effort or resource in ensuring that the defendant is held fully accountable for his unspeakable and hateful crimes," Brady told reporters.
Among the charges filed are 11 counts of murdering victims who are exercising their religious beliefs, 11 of using a firearm to commit murder and seven related to his attacks on the officers who, Police Chief Scott Schubert said, "ran into gunfire to help others."
Authorities said they believe the shooter acted alone, but that the "large, complex crime scene" could take a week to process.
Dr. Karl Williams, chief medical examiner of Allegheny County, said he had met late Saturday with all the families during the difficult process of identifying the dead.
"There's no words to express the sympathy that they need," he said.
He said four rabbis were working with his team, establishing "a continued presence at my office" as they help families deal with the shock and horror of the attack.
Williams said that as autopsies are being performed, "We are doing everything in our power to complete the process in a way that honors both civil and religious law."
Shooter spoke of 'genocide'
The shooter in the attack spoke of "genocide and his desire to kill Jewish people," authorities said.
Federal officials said 46-year-old Robert Bowers, who was arrested at the scene after a firefight with police, faces 29 separate federal charges, several of them carrying the death penalty. He was scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate on Monday.
Civil rights groups called the bloody assault on the 150-year-old Tree of Life synagogue, in a heavily Jewish neighborhood, the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in US history.
Saturday's attack left many in the country's Jewish community reeling, feeling sick and vulnerable. And Jewish leaders expressed concern about what they said was a spike in anti-Semitic acts in the past two years.
In Squirrel Hill, the close-knit neighborhood and heart of Pittsburgh's Jewish community where the attack occurred, a hush descended. "Heartbroken," said Aylia Paulding, 37, her voice breaking as she summed up the grief-stricken mood.
Words of solidarity and consolation poured in from across the globe, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring himself "heartbroken and appalled."
"My heart aches," Ilene Hurwitz Schwartz said.
She normally sleeps in Sundays, but got up early to find solace in talking to friends at a local cafe.
"It feels like after 9/11," she said of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. "It just brings back too much pain."
Her son went to pre-school at Tree of Life, where a man barged in and opened fire with an assault rifle and three handguns, killing 11 elderly people and wounding six others as they gathered on the Jewish sabbath.
