8 things we now know about suspected California synagogue shooter John Earnest

Law enforcement over the weekend named John Earnest as the suspected shooter in an attack on a San Diego, Calif., synagogue that claimed the life of a 60-year-old female worshiper and injured three others.

Local, state, and federal investigators are working up a profile on the 19-year-old alleged gunman, and why he targeted Jews attending synagogue to mark the final day of Passover.

Earnest is in the custody of the San Diego Sheriff’s Department and was charged Sunday with one count of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder. Earnest surrendered to police after leaving the synagogue and calling to report the shooting, according to authorities.

[Related: ‘I’m going to kill you’: Veteran saves lives by charging synagogue shooter, forcing him to flee]

Here are eight things known about Earnest:

1. Earnest’s family belongs to the Escondido Orthodox Presbyterian Church, about 13 miles north of the Poway synagogue. The church called an emergency meeting Sunday after the arrest of Earnest, whose father is an elder with the congregation.

2. Classmates of Earnest at Mt. Carmel High School, from which he graduated in 2017, described him as a quiet, introverted student who was also a talented pianist. Palini Ramnarayan, a high school classmate who now attends Cornell University, told Reuters, “He was very clear about his political ideologies in our AP government class. He’s a staunch hard-right conservative who’s driven by Christian values.”

3. He was “a friend to everybody, including many Jewish students,” according to Owen Cruise, who attended high school with Earnest.

4. Earnest was a student at Cal State University at San Marcos, studying nursing.

[Also read: California police investigate hate-filled 8chan manifesto that could link synagogue shooting to mosque attack]

5. Earnest had no criminal record and no major run-ins with law enforcement until Saturday.

6. The suspect’s name is now being linked to an act of arson at the Islamic Center of Escondido on March 24 because of claims he made online about starting the pre-dawn fire.

7. Earnest posted what is believed by law enforcement to be a manifesto. He posted on 8chan about an hour ahead of the attack. “I do not want to have to kill Jews,” he wrote. “But they have given us no other option. I’m just a normal dude who wanted to have a family, help and heal people, and play piano.” The post goes on to celebrate Adolf Hitler and identify himself as “a man of European ancestry.” He also quoted the Bible.

8. Earnest shared a link to a Facebook live stream that he had set up to record the shooting, stealing a page from the shooter at the recent Christchurch, New Zealand mosque massacre, which claimed 50 lives. He claimed in his manifesto to have spent four weeks planning it and said that was a “testament to the fact that literally anyone can do this.”

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