Suspected Pittsburgh synagogue shooter Robert Bowers was released from the hospital early Monday in advance of his arraignment in federal court for the murder of 11 congregants.
Bowers, 46, waded into the Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill section of the Steel City Saturday armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and three Glock handguns and began shooting, cops say.
The victims who died in the rampage ranged in age from 54 to 97.
After a shootout with cops, in which he wounded four police officers, Bowers surrendered. He told police he wanted to "kill Jews" for "committing genocide to my people," according to law enforcement officials.
The U.S. Attorney in Pittsburgh said Sunday he intends to seek the death penalty on federal hate crime laws.
U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said he has already begun the process to get Attorney General Jeff Sessions' approval for a capital case against Bowers, who police say also wounded six people.
On Monday, New York Police Commissioner James O'Neill said, "He is not a nut. He is an anti-Semite fueled by hate."
Bowers' social media posts include statements like "Jews are the children of Satan." He also accused the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), a Jewish nonprofit that aids refugees, of trying "to bring invaders in that kill our people."
"I can't sit by and watch my people get slaughtered," he wrote Saturday morning, just hours before the shooting. "Screw your optics, I'm going in."
Bowers faces 29 federal charges, including obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs and using a firearm to commit murder, as well as 11 state counts of criminal homicide, six counts of aggravated assault and 13 counts of ethnic intimidation.
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto called the attack the "darkest day" of the city's history.
