PITTSBURGH SYNAGOGUE SHOOTING TRIAL: FULL COVERAGE ⇒

Warning: the details coming out of this trial are difficult to hear and may be upsetting to some.

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UPDATE 4:46 PM: Witness No. 9 takes stand

August Siriano worked in the synagogue building for almost 30 years since 1993.

Siriano isn’t Jewish, but said he loved the people which is why he stayed.

He always worked Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Most services started at 9:45 a.m.

David Rosenthal was at the synagogue when Siriano arrived that day. His brother Cecil arrived not long after.

The three sat and had tea and bagels together while getting things ready for the services.

Siriano said the two were brothers to him. He was also close with Bernice and Sylvan Simon.

Siriano was in the bathroom in the back of the main section when he heard multiple bangs. He said it sounded like a shooting.

He went to investigate when he heard the shots and ran towards the chapel.

Siriano said he could smell the gunpowder.

He got outside the chapel and saw a magazine on the floor along with Cecil.

Siriano recalled that Cecil was lying facedown with blood coming out of his head. He was halfway in and out of the chapel.

He called 911 after he saw his friend. An officer can be heard swearing in the background of the call.

Siriano told dispatch he thought the officer was hit in the head.

The officer was shot through the front door.

Siriano ran the other way toward the sanctuary and out the doors. He ran into Steve Weiss on the sidewalk and said there was an officer with a bloody cut on his face.

Siriano said Weiss held his hand outside of the building to comfort him.

UPDATE 4:03 PM: Witness No. 8 takes stand

Martin Gaynor, a member of Dor Hadash, took the stand.

Gaynor said he saw Jerry Rabinowitz and Daniel Leger making preparations for the service when he heard what sounded like something metal falling.

When the three left the room, he heard gunshots.

Gaynor went toward the chapel, where he said he heard the gunshots and a woman scream.

Gaynor had taken active shooter trainings before and said he knew to run, hide and fight.

He ran from the gunshots into the main sanctuary that wasn’t typically used. From there, he left the building and was on Wilkins Avenue.

Gaynor said he didn’t know what happened to Rabinowitz and Leger. He said he looked around and they weren’t with him.

He continued to Shady Avenue, saying he ran as fast as he’d ever run since high school.

Gaynor didn’t have a phone on the Sabbath, but crossed Shady Avenue and found a woman and a teenage boy who had gotten out of their car. He asked them to call 911.

The call was made at 9:54 a.m.

Gaynor told the dispatcher that he thought there was a shooter at Tree of Life and that there was probably at least a dozen people were inside the synagogue. He told them it sounded like the shots were coming from the basement level.

Toward the end of his testimony, he told the jury that day’s service never even got started.

Dor Hadash now has a mission of helping others in Rabinowitz’s memory. They are working on helping place refugee families as well as being heavily involved in the gun bill legislation to try to prevent this from happening again. They also are working on antisemitism work.

“We really hope our mass shooting might be the last mass shooting, but it is so far from being that,” said Dor Hadash spokeswoman Dana Kellerman.

UPDATE 3:16 PM: Witness No. 7 takes stand

Barry Werber, a member of New Light Congregation, took the stand.

Werber said he normally didn’t go to Saturday service, but it was the anniversary of his mother’s death so he went as a memorial. It was a tradition to honor her on the Sabbath for her passing.

Werber arrived at the synagogue before the service started so he went into the New Light space. He said sometimes they had to wait for ten people to be there before the official service could start.

Werber thought he heard someone walk into glassware when he heard a smash or crash sound.

He opened the doors entering the sanctuary and saw a body on the steps.

He thought he heard noises afterward but couldn’t place them. Then, he realized it was gunfire and that he had to find a way to hide if he couldn’t leave the building.

Werber said his mind was clouded in panic as he moved into the store room, which was pitch black.

Werber was in the room with Mel Wax and Carol Black as he heard gunshots and wondered who was being shot and why.

After the sounds went quiet, Werber testified that he believed Wax thought it was over and started to leave.

When he opened the doors, the shooter was standing there.

Werber said he heard gunshots and Wax fell back into the room. A short time later, the door opened slightly and a figure stepped over Wax’s body and stepped back. He couldn’t see because it was too dark.

Werber had a flip phone that didn’t light up so he called 911. He described the scene to the dispatcher, them that as far as he knew, he was alone.

He said logically, he would have realized Black was with him, but at the time, he felt he was alone.

Werber got visibly emotional listening to his 911 call in court.

Werber was rescued from the storage area around 40 minutes into the call.

UPDATE 2:17 PM: One of two shooting victims who survived takes the stand

Daniel Leger was one of two people who were shot and survived at the Tree of Life Synagogue.

He was a member of Dor Hadash and had been since the 1970′s. He said the congregation was meeting in the Tree of Life building for about seven years at the time of the shooting.

He also said Saturday morning services were a way to gather everyone together. Once a month it was a formal service, while other Saturdays it was a smaller group.

Leger said that when he walked into the service that morning, he saw Cecil and possibly David and Auggie, the Tree of Life custodian. Cecil greeted him and asked about his wife and dogs.

He said he was with Rabinowitz and Martin Gaynor, another regular at the Saturday morning service, in the Rabbi room. They were starting to get books to put around the table for the study that morning.

That’s when Leger said they heard gunshots. He testified that he thought it couldn’t be gunfire and that it must’ve been the furnace blowing up.

He didn’t remember Gaynor leaving the room, but he and Rabinowitz looked at each other and knew they had to do something to help.

Both men moved in the direction of the gunfire. Leger said it may have been a stupid thing to do, but they did it anyway.

Rabinowitz was in front as they left the Rabbi study and headed for the phone near the entrance of the building.

Leger was a nurse and Rabinowitz was a physician. Leger testified in court that something dreadful was happening and both were trained to be helpers.

Leger lost sight of Rabinowitz, who was a few steps ahead of him.

Then, Leger said, he was shot in the abdomen. He said the pain gradually increased and became excruciating.

His feet were at the bottom of the steps leading to the front lobby. His head was at the top facing the inner wall of the stairs.

The last person he saw before he was shot was Rabinowitz.

He said he tried to move but couldn’t.

As he laid on the stairs, Leger said he heard people talking. He didn’t recognize the voice that said “magazine” two or four times.

He said he heard what he believed was someone who was shot experience end of life breathing.

He said he heard Irv Younger shouting Cecil’s name in horror. Cecil didn’t respond.

Leger said in his career as a nurse, he’s been with hundreds of people who were dying and he was felt he was dying.

He prayed.

Leger reviewed his life, thought about the wonder of it all and the happiness he had experienced through his life. He thought of the joy of having two beautiful sons.

He said he was ready to go, and the last thing he remembered seeing was a pant leg in a camouflaged material. He thought that it was either the helper or the shooter, and he had nothing to lose.

He reached up to the pant leg belonging to an EMT.

Leger’s bones joining his pelvis were separated, bladder was exploded on one side and a large section of his intestines had to be removed. He had nerve damage and had to have multiple surgeries that day.

Leger testified that he would have died if he hadn’t been rescued.

UPDATE 11:21 AM: Bowers watches intently as witness recalls hiding

Carol Black, a member of New Light Congregation, took the stand.

Black, 71, said New Light is a conservative congregation. In 2018, she attended services with her brother, Richard Gottfried, who encouraged her to participate after she injured her hip.

Gottfried was very involved and had been a member since the 90s, she said.

Black said that on the day of the shooting, she was running late, and had just gotten to her seat when she heard loud bangs. Another member looked out and saw someone lying on the stairs.

She and a few others, including Melvin Wax, realized it was gunfire and hid. When it became quiet, Wax looked out and was shot twice.

Wax fell inches from Black’s feet.

In the courtroom, Bowers intently watched Black as she testified.

Black said after Wax was shot, she saw a shadow through a space in the door, which she assumed was the shooter. She was calm and told herself she was going to be fine and not to give away her position.

Black said the sound of gunfire got farther away until it stopped. Eventually, police told them they were going to take them out of the building.

She said she had to step over Wax, whom she said goodbye to, as she followed officers out.

Black said the last time she saw her brother, Gottfried, was when he was walking into the building when she first arrived. She told officers that her brother was in the building and they needed to go get him.

While waiting in a police car, she heard that eight had been confirmed dead. She prayed that her brother was one of those going to the hospital.

Evidence was shown in court, including photos of the closet in which Black hid.

A 911 call from Gottfried was played. Black said she thinks her brother was frightened.

Black said she has not worshipped in the building since that day.

UPDATE 9:52 AM: Witness No. 4 takes stand

Wendy Kobee, a member of Dor Hadash, took the stand. Dor Hadash rented space in the Tree of Life synagogue for school purposes, Kobee said.

After the shooting, Dor Hadash had to find a new place to worship and a new space for the school, where they learn religious prayers and welcoming strangers as a value, according to Kobee.

UPDATE 9:42 AM: Judge makes announcement

The judge announced someone in the first row yesterday tested positive for COVID. Judge said everyone is appropriately responding. The front row in that area was reserved for victim families and support.

UPDATE 9:38 AM: Day 1 exhibits released

Before jurors were brought in, the courts released exhibits from the first day of the trial.

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