One Dea, Three Injured In US Synagogue Shooting

A car, allegedly used by the gunman who killed one at the Congregation Chabad synagogue in Poway, is pictured, few hundred feet from the Interstate 15 off-ramp north of San Diego, California, U.S. April 27, 2019. Photograph:( Reuters )

A gunman opened fire at a synagogue in California, killing one person and injuring three others including the rabbi as worshippers marked the final day of Passover, officials said Saturday.

The shooting in the town of Poway came exactly six months after a white supremacist shot dead 11 people at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue -- the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the United States.

"During the shooting, four individuals were wounded and transported to Palimar hospital. One succumbed to wounds. The other three are in stable condition," San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore told a press conference.

He added the injured were a female juvenile and two adult men, while an older woman died from her injuries.

Mayor Steve Vaus had earlier told MSNBC the rabbi at the Chabad of Poway synagogue, located in the town of 50,000 around 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of San Diego, was shot in the hand.

"For this to happen only a week later at the end of the Passover, only a week after Easter is horrific," he told the network.

"We are grateful to those in the congregation there that engaged the shooter and prevented this from being a much more horrific incident.

On Twitter, Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she was "heartbroken" by news of the shooting.

"We have a responsibility to love + protect our neighbours," she said."

"The hatred and violence has got to stop," added California representative Mike Levin.