MIAMI _ A day after a 68-year-old man was shot as he sat on a bench outside a Northeast Miami-Dade synagogue waiting for the daily prayer, the community is rallying to help him in his recovery and called for greater security in the area.
Damon Salzman, the president of the Young Israel of Greater Miami, Northeast 10th Avenue and 171st Street, where the shooting happened, took to Facebook Monday to share information on the crime. He identified the victim as longtime congregation member Yosef Lifshutz.
"Our first course of action is to take care of the man who was shot," said Salzman in the Facebook post. "Not only in the acute phase, but what may be a prolonged course of recovery."
Late Monday, police, who have not yet identified the victim, said they have a better idea of what kind of vehicle was involved and gave a description of the possible shooter. Police said the shooter is a man between 20 and 25, with a slim build and short cropped hair. He was likely in a black 2006-2013 Chevrolet Impala with dark tinted windows.
He is "considered armed and dangerous," police said.
According to Salzman, Lifshutz was about 45 minutes early for the daily prayers and sat outside the synagogue on a bench at around 6:30 p.m.
That was something Lifshutz did frequently, Salzman said.
"A dark colored car stopped in front of the synagogue and fired numerous times," Salzman said in the post. "I am told that he was shot six times, including four in the leg."
Young Israel of Greater Miami Rabbi Dovid Lehrfield told Miami Herald news partner CBS4 that Lifshutz would come early to help a man who had hip surgery get inside.
"This person happens to have absolutely no enemies. He's a wonderful person; everybody loves him. I don't know if the man was out to harm a Jewish person or to harm a synagogue," Lehrfield told the station.
Salzman said Lifshutz, who was taken to Aventura Medical Center, underwent surgery and was recovering.
Police did not say Monday whether the shooting would be considered a hate crime.
But Salzman labeled the shooter a "bully."
"It does not take a criminal mastermind to shoot an elderly person sitting on a bench. It does not take terrorist to try and kill someone isolated and defenseless," he wrote in the post. "It takes a coward. It takes someone without courage to attack an elderly defenseless man sitting in front of a place of sanctuary. It takes someone devoid of humanity to perform such a disgusting and repulsive action."
Salzman said the first step is to help Lifshutz in his recovery. Then, he said the synagogue must work on a "stronger collaboration between the leaders of our community, our synagogues and schools, and the local law enforcement _ not only to bring this villain to justice, but to help prevent future crimes as well."
Among the goals: Train members and coordinate security efforts between institutions.
"We can work together to try and prevent another senseless tragedy," he said. "Together as a neighborhood, as a community, we can be stronger."
