Lakewood Police Add Patrols After Pittsburgh Synagogue Massacre

LAKEWOOD, NJ — Extra patrols and extra police officers are patrolling and keeping a close eye on synagogues in Lakewood following Saturday's deadly mass shooting at a Pennsylvania synagogue, Lakewood police said Saturday evening.

The mass shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood in Pittsburgh killed 11 people and injured six others, including four police officers. The gunman reportedly yelled "All Jews must die" when he walked into the synagogue, according to a report. (READ MORE: Pittsburgh Synagogue Attack: Community Mourns Victims)

In Lakewood, where there are nearly 100 synagogues and thousands of Jewish residents who attend services each Saturday, Lakewood Capt. Gregory Staffordsmith said the police department takes measures daily to ensure the safety "of all our soft targets."

But following Saturday's massacre, the department called out its Special Response Team and officers who patrol areas with synagogues also were instructed conduct extra checks, both inside and out, Staffordsmith said.

"Officers assigned to our Special Response Team have been deployed and will visible and available if needed," he said.

Tensions between the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Lakewood and neighboring towns have been rising since 2014. As conflicts have risen, so have anti-Semitic incidents, including swastikas and other graffiti at Lakewood synagogues, including one in March 2018 where the Holocaust Memorial at Congregation Sons of Israel was vandalized.

"We salute the heroic Pittsburgh police officers that ran towards gunshots," Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said Saturday night as he offered condolences to the families of the victims of the Pittsburgh shooting. "We have to work together to stop religious intolerance and anti-Semitism. Hope shines brighter than hate."

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Photo via Lakewood Township Police