Shooting in Pico: Miracles, Questions, Falsehoods

A shooter tried to kill Jews in Los Angeles and failed. We are left with some difficult questions.

We were shaken in Los Angeles by something horrible.

Two men on their way from synagogue, on the mornings of Wednesday, February 15th and Thursday, February 16th, respectively, were shot on the streets of Pico Robertson. Miraculously neither was killed. But it easily could have ended with two funerals, grieving families, or worse.

At least one Jewish school went on lock down. Police combed the area. Neighborhood patrols like LA Shmira and Magen AM multiplied their efforts. All Jewish institutions enacted safety precautions. 

When the first news of the shooting on Wednesday arrived, it was accompanied by a statement saying there was no evidence that the shooter targeted Jews. Some Jewish groups repeated and sent out the initial police statements that Jews were not necessarily being targeted.

Even when the second shooting occurred on Thursday morning, the community was also advised that they may be independent incidents, and not necessarily targeting Jews. 

Neither the first statement, nor the second statement seemed accurate.

I am reminded of the words of my favorite fictional detective who said, “There is no such thing as a coincidence.” Two mornings, two Jews shot near houses of prayer. No, this wasn’t gang related warfare spilling over. Someone was out to shoot Jews.

Thankfully, less than twelve hours after the second shooting, the suspect was in custody. The LAPD had worked with federal and regional partners to locate and arrest him. The official statement said “he had animus” towards the Jewish community. He had targeted Jews.

Why were we so lucky?

Let’s be honest with ourselves. We are very fortunate. If the suspect had wanted to, he could have killed a lot of Jews. So why didn’t he? How are we so lucky? We may never know.

I’m not a security expert, and his attack will be reviewed by security teams here and nationally, by local and federal agencies. However, based on what we do know, it seems that the perpetrator wanted to kill Jews, but didn’t want to be a martyr for a cause. He was arrested without incident, meaning that he didn’t have a death wish. 

It’s a miracle that more Jews were not shot and that no one died. The suspect was arrested with a rifle and a handgun. Unreal.

I am very grateful to the LAPD for their work in apprehending the suspect, elevating the shooting to the Major Crimes division and assigning many resources and detectives to the case. 

Some serious questions after the attack

In the wake of this terrifying antisemitic attack on our community  — our most local encounter with the gun violence scourge in our country — I am left with a lot of questions:

Were early threats ignored? Someone wrote on a WhatsApp chat, which was widely circulated, that a man matching the shooter’s description had made threats against his Jewish classmates. Were those threats ever reported or investigated?   

Why did Jewish groups quickly repeat something that was not true? When the police report that a Jewish person was shot outside a house of prayer, but say there is no evidence it was hate motivated, why are Jewish organizations quick to repeat that information? That information was false, and could have led to more Jews being shot.

Why didn’t Mayor Bass come to Pico? The Mayor tweeted that she was “monitoring the situation” while condemning the targeting of the Jewish community. After the suspect was arrested the mayor’s office issued a wonderful letter of support for the Jewish community. It would be better for the Mayor come to Pico to show her support for the community, than tweet about it. 

Why don’t we have better security surveillance in Pico? Jewish groups have lobbied to have surveillance security cameras installed along Pico and in high traffic Jewish areas. Could this be the time when there is enough public and private support for this critical security measure?

Why haven’t the LAPD opened a presence in the heavily Jewish area of Pico or Hancock Park allowing for immediate response? The idea was floated in 2005 after a bomb plot was foiled by the FBI. Maybe the shooter could have been caught after the first incident. 

Lastly, why aren’t we more shocked when a Jew gets shot? It may be that humans have a psychological defense mechanism which allows us to continue to operate under enormous pressure. While we know that there was a killer on the loose, our minds come up with all kinds of reasons why we should not be concerned. Unless you know the person shot, it didn’t affect you personally, so it’s possible for our minds to just say, “oh that’s terrible. So many people are getting shot these days.” And then finish our lunch.

The Torah Warns us About Falsehoods

We learn in the Torah, “Keep away from anything false. (Ex. 23:7)” I want to add to this, a false sense of security, a false sense of detachment, and the very consequential danger of passing on false reports.

This time we were very fortunate. Falsehoods didn’t lead to anyone being killed. We cannot depend on miracles the next time.

May God protect us from those who seek to do us harm, may we merit to be saved from the plots of the evildoers, and may we seek to turn away from falsehood and detachment and seek truth.