County resident loses both parents as grief, concern ramp up
Rick Shrum/Observer-Reporter
Jim Snyder of Scenery Hill said of the massacre, “I guess evil lurks everywhere.”
Rick Shrum/Observer-Reporter
Mindy Hughes, with granddaughters Madelyn, 8, left, and Rosemary, 11, attended a baptism at Immaculate Conception Church Sunday. Hughes said of the massacre, “It makes you feel like you can’t go anywhere anymore without worrying who has a gun.”
The Saturday morning massacre at a Squirrel Hill synagogue had a powerful impact on Washington County Judge Gary Gilman.
“I think this was an absolutely horrific event,” he said Sunday evening. “It’s so hard to believe something like this has come to, basically, our community. It’s so sad that there’s so much animus around in the 21st century.”
A gunman, apparently on his own, entered Tree of Life Synagogue and, in 20 minutes, killed 11 people and wounded six – four of them police officers. No children, incredibly, were injured.
Robert Bowers, 46, of Baldwin Borough, has been arrested and charged in the chaotic incident.
Gilman also is board president of Congregation Beth Israel, the only synagogue – north to south – between Mt. Lebanon and Morgantown, W.Va. And the carnage in Pittsburgh left collateral damage in his house of worship.
“I feel doubly bad and saddened,” he said, “because someone in my synagogue lost both of his parents yesterday.”
Bernice, 84, and Sylvan Simon, 86, of Wilkinsburg, were among those who died. Their son, Marc Simon, is vice president of the Beth Israel board and has been a member there for about 15 years. He resides in Washington County.
The judge said the couple were active members of Tree of Life for many years and participated in religious services and social events there multiple times a week. He added that Marc Simon’s parents “often came down to celebrate holidays here. I got to know them and other members got to know them.”
Gilman said hearing initial reports about the massacre Saturday was “very deflating. Places you think are so safe, like a place of worship or a school or a church, unfortunately, aren’t.”
The pain was palpable well beyond Squirrel Hill Sunday, and was especially intense inside and outside venues of worship in this area. The Rev. M. John Lynan, administrator of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Washington, briefly included the shootings in his homily during the 12:15 p.m. Mass, which had a “praying to Jesus” theme.
“After yesterday in Squirrel Hill, you wonder what to do,” Lynan said. “Say, ‘Jesus help us. We can’t do this without you.'”
Leaving IC following services, Diana Wolf of Washington admitted, “I feared going to church today.”
“I just don’t know where the hate comes from today,” she continued. “It’s a sad situation. It’s not the same world I grew up in. I think we have to address hate.”
Mindy Hughes of Washington echoed Wolf’s sentiments about safety.
“It makes you feel like you can’t go anywhere anymore without worrying who has a gun,” she said, before heading into a baptism following Mass. Hughes was accompanied by two granddaughters, Rosemary, 11, and Madlyn, 8, of Houston.
“You have to wonder what the world has come to,” she added.
Jim Snyder, an affable gentleman from Scenery Hill, said contents of the reports of the incident Saturday “were devastating.”
“It’s hard to understand that it could happen here,” he said. “We have to figure out why this happens. I guess evil lurks everywhere.”