An Asian man has been charged with hate crimes after being arrested for shooting two Jewish men outside two separate synagogues in Los Angeles’ Pico-Robertson neighborhood last week.
The first incident took place near the intersection of Shenandoah and Cashio Streets before 10 a.m. on Wednesday. The victim, who had just left a synagogue, was opening the driver’s side door of his car when he was shot in the back, according to CNN.
The second incident occurred near Pickford and South Bedford Streets at around 8 a.m. on Thursday. The victim, who had also just left a synagogue, reportedly made eye contact with a man in a “dark colored Sedan” and heard three gunshots before realizing that he was hit in the arm.
A Los Angeles police officer who responded to the second shooting saw an Asian man driving a Honda Civic. She took a picture of the vehicle, reviewed security footage and determined a match, as per the Los Angeles Times.
Police then looked into the vehicle’s license plate and traced it to 28-year-old Jamie Tran.
They began to track him using his cell phone location, which revealed that he went to Palm Springs.
Cathedral City police then received a report of a shooting at around 5:45 p.m. They found Tran in the driver’s seat of his car and arrested him. They also recovered an AK-style rifle and a .380-caliber handgun, according to reports.
Tran, formerly of Riverside, told police that he had “searched for a ‘kosher’ market” on Yelp. He then went to the market and “selected his victims because of their ‘head gear.’”
The two victims were reported to be Orthodox Jews who had just finished their morning prayers, ABC News reported. Both survived and are now in stable condition, according to the police.
Anti-semitism has no place in Los Angeles.
When it comes out of the shadows, make no mistake – Angelenos from every community stand united to stamp it out – and to ensure that justice…
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