Justice Dept. files 29 charges against alleged Pittsburgh shooter

The U.S. Department of Justice on Saturday evening announced the filing of 29 criminal charges against Robert Bowers, the suspect in the shooting deaths of 11 adults and the injuries of six others at a Pittsburgh synagogue on Saturday morning.

A judge signed an order alleging various violence and firearms offenses, which establish him as having committed a hate crime. The counts against Bowers as stated in the complaint charge him with 11 counts of obstruction of exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death, 11 counts of the use of a firearm to commit murder during in relation to a crime of violence, four counts of obstruction of exercise of religious beliefs resulting in bodily injury, three counts of the use or discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a crime.

Bowers remains in custody receiving treatment at a local hospital from injuries he sustained in a shootout with police and SWAT team members dispatched to the scene at the Tree of Life Synagogue in the largely Jewish section of Squirrel Hill.

Bowers could be arraigned as early as Monday, but authorities noted his injuries may prevent him from appearing in court for several days more.

The Tree of Life Synagogue, derives its name from Proverbs 3:17-18, the passage that includes the Hebrew phrase etz chaim, or “tree of life” used in describing the Jewish Torah: “It is a tree of life to all who grasp it, and whoever holds on to it is happy; its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all it paths are peace.”