Jewish doctors and nurses provided treatment to Robert Bowers, the shooting suspect accused of killing 11 people and wounding several others at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh on Oct. 27.
Bowers, who faces 29 federal charges for committing the shooting, was wounded after exchanging gunfire with police officers, where he stated, “They’re committing genocide to my people. I just want to kill Jews.”
He was then taken to Allegheny General Hospital, where he was treated by Jewish staff members at the hospital; the president of the hospital, Dr. Jeff Cohen, is a member of a Tree of Life synagogue.
“Isn’t it ironic that somebody who’s yelling in the ambulance and in the hospital ‘I want to kill all the Jews’ is taken care of by a Jewish nurse and there’s a Jewish hospital president who checks in on him afterwards?” Cohen told CNN.
Cohen said that after Bowers was treated, he asked Bowers how he was doing. Bowers said he was feeling alright and asked Cohen who he was. Cohen said he was the president of the hospital and walked away.
“The FBI agent who was guarding him said, ‘I don’t know if I could have done that,’” Cohen told ABC. “And I said, ‘If you were in my shoes, I’m sure you could.’”
Cohen added that at his hospital, people are to receive treatment regardless of who they are or what their insurance status is.
Federal prosecutors are attempting to obtain a death penalty sentence for Bowers.
