SHOOTING – AT 12:16 P.M. ET:  There has been a multiple-death shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.   Preliminary reports say that 12 individuals in the synagogue were shot, with at least four known dead.  In addition, three police officers rushing to the scene were shot.

The gunman, assuming there was only one, is in custody.  We have no idea who he or she is.  As in all cases like this, we urge readers not to jump to conclusions.  This could of course be a terrorist attack, but it could also be a personal grudge. 

Nearby Carnegie-Mellon University is on lockdown.  Even in New York, police are sending units to synagogues in an abundance of caution.

Both Fox and CNN got on the story early, using weekend anchors, and, in Fox's case, the wonderful financial reporter, Charles Payne.  All did a fine job.  But it doesn't take long for the journalistic left to swing into action.  On CNN, a personality noted a recent report that anti-Semitic crimes had increased since President Trump took office.  (In fact, anti-Semitic activity, most from the political left, has been increasing for years.)  And a reporter just asked the president, who is leaving Washington on a trip, whether this incident showed the need for more gun laws.  Nothing ever changes, does it?

UPDATE:  Press reports now say that the shooter shouted "All Jews must die" as he went about his killing.  The incident is being treated as some kind of hate crime.  We don't know if this was an act of bigotry, or related to the Mideast situation.  Nor do we know the ethnicity of the alleged shooter.

October 27,  2018