19-year-old terrorist John Earnest confessed to setting a nearby mosque on fire last month and professed to drawing inspiration from the New Zealand terror attacker.
A white terrorist walked into a San Diego-area synagogue crowded with Sabbath worshippers on Saturday and opened fire with an assault-style rifle, killing one woman inside and wounding three others in a hate crime carried out on the last day of Passover, authorities said.
Terrorist John Earnest, 19, surrendered to police a short time later.
He confessed to having set a nearby mosque on fire last month and professed drawing inspiration from the terrorist who killed nearly 50 worshippers at two mosques in New Zealand.
San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said police and FBI were investigating Earnest’s “possible involvement” in an unsolved predawn arson on March 24 at the Islamic Center of Escondido, a town about 24 km north of the synagogue attacked on Saturday. No one was hurt at the mosque fire.
Gore said Earnest, whose weapon apparently malfunctioned after the first several rounds he fired, had no prior criminal record.