May 5, 2023 | 14 Iyar 5783
Candlelighting 8:02 p.m. | Havdalah 9:06 p.m. | Vol. 66, No. 18 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Getting to Know: Mornon Greenberg Lenda volorei ciendi re nus
Former Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto recalls Oct. 27, 2018
Accomplished skater and Israel advocate odictiumqui andae amusam Et quistium si de net voloritat Page 2 LOCAL
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LOCAL A survivor’s story and a call to actionommodi at Poaleremos Zedeck Ovit, ero
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Jury selection in Pittsburgh synagogue massacre case enters its second week with focus on death penalty attitudes
Former Mayor Bill Peduto in front of the Tree of Life building on April 23
Photo by Toby Tabachnick
By David Rullo | Staff Writer
Stephen Weiss recounts Oct. 27 at active threat training Fodictiumqui aut entis andae asimuss LOCAL LOCAL Playin’ the silver ball Minto volupta ssimim
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The secret Jewish history of Pittsburgh pinball Lenda nus dolorum re pro mi, cuptati Page 5 ntibus. Page X
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ct. 27, 2018, began abnormally for then-Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto. “It was one of the few days during the month that I had nothing scheduled for the morning, so I tried to catch up on sleep,” he told the Chronicle. Peduto said he was awakened by his phone ringing but ignored it in favor of a few more minutes of sleep. When the phone rang again, he knew something needed his attention. “I had a system with my chief of staff, Dan Gilman,” Peduto said. “If there was something I had to be aware of, he would immediately call twice and I would always pick up.” When Peduto answered the call, Gilman began uttering words such as “active shooter,” “Tree of Life” and “multiple casualties.” Those words hit Peduto like “a ton of bricks,” he said. He told Gilman he would call right back, hung up and said a prayer. Gilman picked up Peduto, and the two reached the Tree of Life building as police officers were arriving from throughout Greater Pittsburgh. The scene was chaotic, Peduto said. “The call had been put out that every available officer was to report to the Tree of Life,” he said. “The cars were coming from every
direction. We didn’t realize it at the time, but where we were standing, the shooter had a direct shot at us. We were immediately moved to another location where we waited.” One of Peduto’s first acts was to reassign the officer in charge of the incident. When the mayor arrived, Pittsburgh police Cmdr. Jason Lando, from Zone 5, was serving as incident commander. When Peduto learned that Lando’s grandfather regularly attended services at Tree of Life, he put Pittsburgh fire Chief Darryl Jones in charge until then-Deputy Chief of Police Thomas Stangrecki arrived. Eventually, Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich, who Peduto said “must have set a speed record,” arrived and took command. Peduto then began working to safeguard those beyond the Tree of Life building. “We were facing a situation that might be happening in other temples or shuls,” he said. “We began a phone chain to notify every synagogue in the city of what was happening to get them to lock their doors.” Only after this process began did Peduto realize it was Shabbat. Instead of telephone calls, he sent officers to every synagogue in the area, instructing them to stay on site for added protection. Peduto had learned from conversations
Members of the media stand outside of the federal courthouse on Grant Street, downtown, on Monday, April 24, ahead of the start of the federal death penalty trial for the man accused of killing 11 worshippers from three congregations at the Tree of Life synagogue building in 2018. Photo by Alexandra Wimley/Union Progress By Torsten Ove | Contributing Writer
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s jury selection dragged on at the federal courthouse last Friday, the director of the 10.27 Healing Partnership met with reporters across the street to discuss the laborious task of picking average citizens to decide the fate of the man accused of murdering 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue building in 2018. “I am impressed with the thoroughness of this process,” said Maggie Feinstein, “and the delicate care that everybody from the judge to the two sides of the legal teams takes in honoring the dignity of all the potential jurors.”
Please see Peduto, page 10
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