Security raised after Jewish center shooting

By Daisuke Wakabayashi

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Police stepped up security at Seattle
synagogues and mosques on Saturday, a day after a Muslim man
who said he was angry at Israel shot dead one woman and wounded
five others at a Jewish center.

Naveed Afzal Haq, 31, burst into the Jewish Federation of
Greater Seattle on Friday afternoon. He surrendered without a
struggle and police arrested him on charges of murder and five
counts of attempted murder.

Amy Wasser-Simpson, the federation’s vice president, told
the Seattle Times the man got past security at the building and
shouted, “I’m a Muslim American; I’m angry at Israel,” before
he began shooting.

Congregation Beth Shalom posted two armed, uniformed
officers at morning services on Saturday, according to a
message on the Seattle synagogue’s Web site.

Authorities said they were “taking every precaution,”
searching for explosives and additional suspects, and were
monitoring the city’s synagogues and Jewish organizations.

Police said Haq is a U.S. citizen and that their initial
conversation with him by phone while he was inside the building
indicated that he was a Muslim. Police would not disclose the
content of the conversation.

“We are also protecting mosques, because there is always
the concern of retaliatory crime,” Seattle Police Chief Gil
Kerlikowske told a news conference late on Friday.

The Jewish federation, a group covering the Jewish
community around the Puget Sound region, had organized a large
rally last weekend to demonstrate support for Israel in its
fight against Hizbollah in southern Lebanon.

A silent march to protest Israeli actions in Gaza planned
for Saturday morning in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland was
canceled due to safety concerns, according to Arsalan Bukhari,
president of the Seattle chapter of the Council of
American-Islamic Relations.

There are no plans to scale back weekend schools or any
other religious activities, he said.

“The events that are happening in the Middle East should
not spill over into our city,” said Bukhari.

In light of the fighting in the Middle East, Seattle police
alerted its officers earlier this week to carefully monitoring
synagogues, temples and mosques, but Kerlikowske said they had
received no specific threats.

At a news conference on Friday, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels
said, “This was a purposeful, hateful act as far as we know, by
an individual acting alone. … This is a crime of hate.”

The FBI was working with local authorities on the case.

Local media reported Haq was on medication for a bipolar
disorder and had a misdemeanor lewd conduct charge pending. He
allegedly exposed himself at a shopping mall.

A hospital spokeswoman said three of the victims remain in
critical condition. The surviving women range in age from 23 to
43, and one is pregnant. Police did not say whether the women
were Jewish, and the dead woman’s name has not been released.

“I express our collective shock and dismay over the attack
that has left five of our colleagues wounded and to share our
extraordinary sadness for the loss of one of our colleagues,”
said Robin Boehler, chair of the federation.