POWAY, Calif. _ A day after a gunman opened fire on Chabad of Poway, killing one woman, and injuring three others, founding Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who was one of the victims, stood in front of the synagogue with a message of strength and hope.
"We need to battle darkness with light," Goldstein said, adding later. "We are going to stand tall. We're going to grow from this."
Goldstein, who was shot in both hands, losing his right index finger, spoke Sunday of the unimaginable memory of coming face-to-face with the shooter, later identified as 19-year-old John T. Earnest of Rancho Penasquitos. Earnest was arrested without incident after fleeing the synagogue amid a hail of bullets fired by a security guard.
Goldstein, whose hands were in casts and arm was in a sling, said the gunman was wearing sunglasses. "I couldn't see his eyes," he said. "I couldn't see his soul."
The rabbi described putting his hands up as the gunman opened fire. Two others were injured in the shooting. Noya Dahan, 8, was hit with shrapnel in the face and leg, and Almong Peretz, 34, was shot in the leg as he scooped up children in an adjacent playroom and ushered them to safety.
The three surviving victims were released from hospitals Saturday and Sunday, officials confirmed.
Goldstein said "miraculously," the gunman's rifle jammed. One congregant, a former soldier, who ran after the man and tried to tackle him. Then an off-duty Border Patrol agent with a gun, tried to shoot at the tires of the gunman's vehicle as he sped off.
It wasn't until after the shooter fled that Goldstein saw Lori Kaye, a longtime congregant and a dear friend, unconscious on the ground.
"In my own interpretation, Lori took the bullet for all of us," he said. He added later, "I will never forget yesterday. My missing finger will forever scar me. It's also going to remind me how vulnerable we are, but also how courageous we can all be."
Earnest is the apparent author of a long, anti-Semitic "open letter" detailing his "disgust" for Jews and his admiration for the perpetrators of other mass shootings, including the gunman who killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue six months ago to the day. The Saturday shooting is being investigated as a hate crime.
Sheriff Bill Gore said detectives with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, along with investigators from several other local, state and federal agencies, worked throughout the night to interview about 100 people who were victims or witnesses to the shooting.
Detectives also obtained several warrants to search the suspect's San Diego home and his vehicle.
Investigators believe Earnest, who was booked into jail on suspicion of murder and three counts of attempted murder, acted alone.
"There is no indication at this point in the investigation that Earnest was part of an organized group," Gore said in a statement.
A sign posted outside the front doors of the synagogue read, "We respectfully ask you to please allow us time grieve and process. Thank you!"
