‘Paralyzed with fear.’ Arrest follows gunshots in crowded synagogue, California cops say
A man accused of firing gunshots, possibly blanks, inside a busy Jewish synagogue in San Francisco has been arrested, California police reported.
Police arrested Dmitri Mishin, 51, of San Francisco at 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3, KPIX reported.
He faces charges including disturbing a religious assembly, brandishing an imitation firearm and causing another to refrain from engaging in a religious service, police said in a news release.
Mishin is accused of entering a synagogue at 7:20 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1, and firing a handgun several times before running away, police said. No one was hurt.
Police recovered several shell casings, possibly from blanks, at the synagogue.
A security video aired by KGO shows a man enter the synagogue and fire off several shots.
“People didn’t even leave their chairs,” Matthew Finkelstein of the Schneerson Jewish Center told KGO. “This guy was wielding a gun. It’s because they were paralyzed with fear.”
Finkelstein told the station that no one in the synagogue recognized the gunman.
“In my mind, what he did was he came and he did a terrorist attack,” Rabbi Alon Chanukov told KGO. “He came to terrorize people.”
On Tuesday, Jan. 31, police suspect Mishin also brandished a firearm inside a theater near the synagogue, the release said.
After an investigation, police identified MIshin as a suspect in both incidents and arrested him, the release said. A search of his home revealed evidence connected to the incidents, police said.
Police ask that anyone with information leave a tip at 1-415-575-4444.
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