Eleven people were killed in the 2018 massacre.
June 16, 2023, 3:52 PM
Robert Bowers was found guilty on Friday on all counts in the 2018 mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue that killed 11 worshippers.
Bowers was convicted on all 63 charges, including 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death. Bowers offered to plead guilty if the death penalty was taken off the table, but prosecutors turned him down.
The bullet damaged doors of the Tree of Life synagogue building in Pittsburgh, was entered June 1, 2023, as a court exhibit by prosecutors in the federal trial of Robert Bowers.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania via AP
The jury deliberated for less than one day. Jurors will next weigh if Bowers should be sentenced to death.
Bowers stormed the Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018, gunning down 11 people in the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history. Bowers allegedly told investigators after his arrest that he wanted to kill Jewish people, according to a criminal complaint.
This undated Pennsylvania Department of Transportation photo shows Robert Bowers.
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation via AP, FILE
Prosecutors said Bowers, armed with a semi-automatic assault-style rifle and three handguns, moved “methodically” through the synagogue and shot many of his victims at close range.
In opening statements in May, defense attorney Judy Clarke admitted that Bowers was the shooter and said he “shot every person he saw … and injured first responders who came to their rescue.”
A memorial is placed inside the locked doors of the dormant landmark Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, Oct. 26, 2022.
Gene J. Puskar/AP
“There will be no question that this was a planned act and that he killed 11 people,” Clarke said, but she asked the jurors to “scrutinize his intent.”
The jury, comprised of 11 women and seven men, included an intensive care nurse, a new father and a veteran.
In this Oct. 29, 2018 file photo a makeshift memorial stands outside the Tree of Life Synagogue in the aftermath of a deadly shooting in Pittsburgh.
Matt Rourke/AP, FILE
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro tweeted on Friday, “Today’s verdict was a step toward justice in Pittsburgh, but the horror and pain of October 27, 2018 will never go away. My heart remains with the families of the 11 victims who were massacred as they worshipped at Tree of Life that day. May their memories be a blessing.”
The penalty phase is set to begin June 26.
The signage on the dormant landmark Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood is framed in spring foliage, Apr. 19, 2023..
Gene J. Puskar/AP
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