AP Exclusive: Synagogue just got money to improve security
Posted May 2, 2019 10:04:45 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
POWAY, Calif. — The gunman who attacked a Southern California synagogue last week fired at worshippers near a front entrance that leaders earlier identified as needing improved security.
The Poway Chabad Synagogue north of San Diego sought a federal grant last year to better protect that area.
The $150,000 was approved in September but only awarded in late March.
The rabbi who oversees security grants tells The Associated Press that the timing means the synagogue had no chance to start spending the funds before the shooting.
He says Jewish leaders are considering asking authorities to allow some of the money be used to hire security guards, which it doesn’t have now.
The shooter killed a woman and wounded an 8-year-old girl and two men, including the rabbi presiding at the Passover service.
Julie Watson And Don Thompson, The Associated Press
