Synagogue shooter 'listened to noise and noise told him his people were being slaughtered', says Jewish doctor who spoke to Robert Bowers

A Jewish doctor who heads the hospital where the suspected Pittsburgh shooter is being treated and is a member of the synagogue he allegedly attacked, said Robert Bowers “hears noise…telling him to rise up and do something”.

Mr Bowers, who wrote frequent racist online screeds denouncing Jewish people, is to appear in federal court on Monday, to face several dozen charges. He also faces 11 counts of murder, brought by state authorities.

US Attorney Scott Brady said federal prosecutors are seeking approval to pursue the death penalty against Mr Bowers.

The 46-year-old suspect was shot by officers and taken into custody after police responded to reports of an attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighbourhood on Saturday morning. He is being treated at the Allegheny General Hospital.

On Sunday evening, Jeff Cohen, a member of Tree of Life synagogue and president of Allegheny General Hospital, described how he heard the gunshots break out on Saturday morning. He also revealed he had spoken to the alleged gunman.

“I went to see the shooter and the cops that were guarding him. You look at him, I wanted to try and understand why did he do this,” he told CNN.

“And I have no answers. I asked him how are you feeling, and he was sort of groggy and said I’m feeling okay. And I introduced myself as Dr Cohen, the president of Allegheny General. And I left. The FBI agent in charge looked at me and says I don’t know how you did that because I’m not sure I could have.” Mr Cohen said he believed it was “time for leaders to lead”.

Since the attack on Saturday morning there has been intense debate in the US about whether Donald Trump’s rhetoric has helped create an environment where such incidents are more likely.

Mr Cohen said: “The gentleman didn’t appear to be a member of the Mensa society. He listens to the noise, he hears the noise. The noise was telling him his people were being slaughtered. He thought it was time to rise up and do something. He’s completely confused, and the words mean things. The words are leading to people doing things like this.”

Following the shooting, Mr Trump condemned the act of violence as an “antisemitic act” and “pure evil”. “There must be no tolerance for antisemitism in America or for any form of religious or racial hatred or prejudice,” he added.

Critics said the president’s language, frequently aggressive and mocking of people who disagreed with him, was helping create an environment in which such acts were more likely.

“This president’s modus operandi is to divide us,” Democratic congressman Adam Schiff told CNN. “It’s not enough that a day on a tragedy he says the right words, if every other day of the year he’s saying things to bring us into conflict with one another.”

Supporters of the president, who on Friday had denied his words or actions had inspired accused mail bomber Cesar Sayoc, were quick to dismiss any link between Mr Trump’s language and the gun attack in Pittsburgh, whose alleged perpetrator reportedly wrote disparaging comments about the president on social media and said he was a “globalist, not a nationalist”. The word globalist is often used a slur by antisemites.

Kirstjen Nielsen, the secretary of Homeland Security, told Fox News the president “has made it extraordinarily clear that we will never allow political violence to take root in this country”.

Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of the Tree of Life synagogue told ABC: “I think people are in various stages of trauma, mourning, disbelief, shock all rolled into one.”