Police testify about confronting gunman at Pittsburgh synagogue

Police on Friday described how they exchanged fire with a gunman who carried out the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history, frantic to get wounded worshippers to safety as they shot and neutralized the suspect. Several officers took the stand on the fourth day of the prosecution’s case against Robert Bowers, whose lawyers have acknowledged he shot and killed 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in October 2018 but are working to spare his life. Stephen Mescan, a tactical commander and member of the SWAT team, said Friday that the synagogue was “all shot up” when he and other SWAT officers got there, shattered glass everywhere and bullet holes pockmarking the building. Seven people were wounded in the attack — including five police officers — and Mescan described how SWAT members dragged out a severely injured officer who had been shot several times. Police officer Michael Smidga, who was among the first officers on the scene and was among the wounded, testified that prior to the attack on Oct. 27, 2018, he had routinely conducted security sweeps at Tree of Life and other synagogues in the area, “because people have a lot of hate in them.” Prosecutors have said Bowers expressed a hatred of Jews online and at the synagogue on the day of the attack.