June 16, 2023 | 27 Sivan 5783
Candlelighting 8:34 p.m. | Havdalah 9:43 p.m. | Vol. 66, No. 24 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Lenda volorei ciendi Salk non re nus The legacy of Jonas
Et odictiumqui andae amusam A new exhibit tells a uniquely quistium de net voloritat Pittsburghsistory LOCAL LOCAL Celebrating 20remos yearsero of Ovit, ommodi grantmaking
Shootouts with police, social media posts among evidence presented in synagogue massacre trial
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Jewish Association on Aging redevelopment plans announced
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JAA Senior Community
Photo provided by JAA
By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer
June 6 as a jury watched a video recorded outside the Tree of Life building on Oct. 27, 2018. It sounded like a war zone because it essentially was — a rapid-fire shootout inside the building between the Pittsburgh Police SWAT unit and the mass shooter. Police had tracked him to a dark top floor classroom, where he opened fire on them with the AR-15 assault weapon he had already used to slaughter 11 worshippers, wound two congregants and then shoot two SWAT team members. SWAT officer John Persin said memories of all he saw, heard and smelled that day still haunt him nearly five years later. From his hiding place, the defendant shot SWAT members Tim Matson and Anthony Burke, forcing the team to retreat and execute a rescue of their comrades. Officers then engaged him in a second gunfight and wounded him. Video shot from the street outside the building captured a furious exchange of high-velocity rounds. Persin said the defendant started the shooting. Please see Trial, page 10
Please see JAA, page 11
A view of the Joseph F. Weis, Jr. U.S. Courthouse, Downtown
Fodictiumqui aut entis andae asimuss JWF models collaborative philanthropy Page X LOCAL
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Minto volupta A life of words ssimim and advocacy
Lenda dolorum pro mi,dies cuptati Beverlynus “The Maven”rePollock at 99 ntibus.
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By Chronicle Staff and Union Progress Staff
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he trial of the man accused of killing 11 innocent worshippers inside the Tree of Life building on Oct. 27, 2018, entered its third week of testimony on Monday. The shooter faces 63 counts, including the obstruction of the free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death. The federal government is seeking the death penalty. Those killed were: Bernice Simon, 84, and her husband Sylvan Simon, 86; Jerry Rabinowitz, 66; David Rosenthal, 54, and his brother, Cecil, 59; Dan Stein, 71; Joyce Fienberg, 75; Irving Younger, 69; Melvin Wax, 87; Richard Gottfried, 65; and Rose Mallinger, 97. He also wounded two other congregants and several police officers. Here is a recap of the trial testimony of Days 6-9. For more extensive and up-to-date coverage, go to pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
Day 6: SWAT team recounts shootout
The staccato rat-rat-rat of semiautomatic gunfire resounded in a federal courtroom on
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ommunity members learned about significant changes to the Jewish Association on Aging during a June 6 meeting hosted by the Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition. Attorneys, architects and developers described a phased redevelopment of buildings on the JAA’s Browns Hill Road campus slated to begin next year. The JAA closed its skilled nursing facility, the Charles Morris Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, in January 2021. It closed The Residence at Weinberg Village, a personal care facility, at the end of 2022. Both facilities were on the JAA campus. “It’s really replacing and upgrading what currently exists,” Shawn Gallagher, a real estate attorney with Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, said. The JAA provides various state-licensed skilled care levels —including memory care and personal care — but the facilities “are a little bit outdated, and I think they’ve outlived their useful life.” Ultimately, the goal is to “eventually demolish everything, but it’s going to be a phased development,” Gallagher added. The initial step will begin with razing Weinberg Village as well as a “really small portion of the Charles Morris building,” Ian Anderson, of PH7 Architects, said. From there, a five-story structure will be
Photo by Adam Reinherz
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