The rabbi injured in a shooting at a Poway synagogue six years ago said his nephew — who is also a rabbi — was killed in the Hanukkah service on a beach in Australia that killed at least 15.
Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein of Chabad Poway said his nephew was leading the Bondi Beach service when he was gunned down.
“We all woke up this morning to horrifying news from Sydney, Australia,” he wrote on Facebook. “This attack feels deeply personal. My nephew Rabbi Eli Schlanger was murdered, and my great-niece and great-nephew were injured at a Chabad-arranged public menorah lighting.”
Goldstein himself was wounded in a mass shooting at the Chabad of Poway synagogue in April 2019.
That shooting occurred during a Sabbath service on the last day of Passover, when a 19-year-old gunman entered the Poway synagogue and opened fire. He killed one congregant and wounded three others, including Goldstein and a child.
“It is completely understandable to feel shaken,” he said, noting that a Sunday celebration in Poway would continue with added security. “This is not the time to hide. This is the time to show up.
“If one small candle can brighten a dark room, imagine what our collective light can do,” said his Facebook post, which was also from his wife, Devore Goldstein.
Local law enforcement agencies also said they were stepping up patrols on Sunday after the Australian mass shooting.
San Diego police and sheriff’s deputies say they increased patrols around synagogues and houses of worship. Both departments said there were no known local threats, but they added the patrols “out of an abundance of caution.”
“We understand the real fear that acts of violence like this spread among our communities. It is a reminder for all of us to remain vigilant,” San Diego police said on the social media platform X.
The Associated Press reported that 16 people were killed, including a child, after two gunmen opened fire on the celebration on Bondi Beach. At least 38 others were injured. Police fatally shot one of the gunmen. The other was arrested and being treated at a hospital.
In the Poway case, investigators later learned the shooter had set fire at an Escondido mosque a month earlier. Seven people had been asleep inside. No one was injured.
Shortly before the attack, the gunman, John T. Earnest, had posted an “open letter” online, referencing deadly mass shootings at Pittsburgh synagogue in October 2018 and at New Zealand mosques in March 2019.
Earnest pleaded guilty in 2021 and was sentenced to life in prison. He also pleaded guilty to hate crimes and other charges in federal court and was sentenced to life plus 30 years.