Police shoot man who stabbed student in New York synagogue; assailant screamed "Kill the Jews"

[mountaineer]

AP via AOL
Police shoot man who stabbed student in synagogue
The Associated Press Dec 9th 2014 4:59AM

NEW YORK (AP) -- A knife-wielding man stabbed an Israeli student in the head inside a Brooklyn synagogue early Tuesday before being fatally shot by police after he refused to drop the knife, authorities said.

The man stormed into the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic world headquarters in Crown Heights at about 1:40 a.m. and attacked Levi Rosenblat, who was studying inside the synagogue, spokesman Motti Seligson said. He said there were other people inside at the time.

According to witnesses, the attacker was heard saying repeatedly "Kill the Jews," said Chaim Landa, another spokesman for Chabad-Lubavitch. Several other people immediately intervened, he said.

A witness flagged down a patrol officer, who confronted the 49-year-old man and told him to put the knife down. He initially put it down, but picked it up again, police said. More officers responded and repeatedly ordered the man to drop the knife.

He refused and, with the knife in his hand, charged at one of the officers, who fired once, striking the man in the torso, police said.

Police said no other officers discharged their weapons.

The man was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was not immediately identified, but police said he was from New York City and had a criminal history.

The 22-year-old Rosenblat was in stable condition, officials said.

A 9-inch knife, with a 4 1/2-inch blade, was recovered at the scene, police said.

"We commend the heroic efforts of the individuals who were present and took immediate action. If not for their intervention the outcome could have been, God forbid far worse," said Landa.

"While we are very pained by everything that has unfolded, we are very grateful to the police for their quick response and are working closely with the authorities in their ongoing investigation," he added.

Police said the investigation is continuing.


Video and photos at link

[mountaineer]

Cops fatally shoot stabbing suspect at synagogue
By Larry Celona and Kenneth Garger
New York Post
December 9, 2014 | 2:47am
Police shot and killed a disturbed man inside one of Brooklyn’s most prominent synagogues Tuesday morning, apparently after he burst in saying ‘kill the jews’ and then stabbed someone there, sources said.

The bloodshed happened at the world headquarters of the Lubavitch Hasidic sect at 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights shortly after 1 a.m., sources said.

Calvin Peters, 50, had walked into the basement of the synagogue where people were praying, sources said.

According to police sources, Peters asked for a copy of the Bible, then briefly walked out, sources said.  He returned and stabbed an Israeli student in the side of the head for an unknown reason.
 
“He’s a very serious student he’d been studying all day,” witness Levi Deutsch said about the victim. “He was stabbed in the side of the head he was conscious but he was bleeding a lot.”

Another witness flagged down cops who were passing the headquarters.

Officers then confronted the man in an encounter that was captured on a dramatic video.

As Peters brandished the knife, an officer pulled his weapon, promoting onlookers at the synagogue to say “Hey officer don’t do it” and implore Peters to drop the knife.

Peters then shouts “You gonna shoot me?” prompting the onlookers to exclaim “No, no, no don’t shoot, don’t shoot.”

Peters then repeats “You gonna shoot me,” to which the officer responds, “If you don’t drop the knife I will.”

After several demands from the officer, Peters then puts the knife down on a table and puts his hands up, prompting the officer to holster his gun.

It appeared as if the encounter had been defused. But Peters is seen suddenly grabing the knife again, prompting the officer to shout “Stay the f–k away from the knife now.”

Other officers then appear in the video as Peters storms around brandishing the knife. Then, moments later, a single shot is heard, after the camera turns away from the chaotic incident.

Sources said one of the officers fired one round into Peter’s body, killing him.

Another video shows officers standing over the man as he was handcuffed.

“It’s the first time this has happened at a New York synagogue,” one member said.

“I come here everyday to know that somebody died here, it’s scary. It needs to be a secure place.”

The stabbed victim was at Kings County in critical condition.

The suspect was taken to Kings County, where he died.

Video at link

[mountaineer]

C'mon, Russell Simmons, protest this one. Maybe Lebron James should wear a "Kill the Jews" t-shirt, too.

Shooting of synagogue slasher was by the book
By Reuven Fenton, Frank Rosario, Natasha Velez and Larry Celona
NY Post
December 10, 2014 | 1:47am

NYPD cops desperately tried to get a disturbed man to drop his knife during a tense standoff in a Brooklyn synagogue on Tuesday, but were forced to fatally shoot him when he ignored their ­orders, officials said.

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and some of the department’s fiercest critics agreed that the 1:45 a.m. shooting of Calvin ­Peters, 49, followed textbook guidelines for use of deadly force.

“We estimate the officer was three to five feet from the suspect as he was coming at him,” Bratton said of the showdown at the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters in Crown Heights. “The actions of the officers are more than justified, based on the dangers that they and seven other individuals faced in that building.”

Peters, a soccer dad of two from Valley Stream, LI, was heard screaming “Kill the Jews!” as he burst into the religious center on Eastern Parkway at about 1:30 a.m.

“I heard for sure him saying, ‘I’m gonna kill. I’m gonna kill you. I’m gonna kill the Jews,’ ” a witness told The Post. “He repeated it a few times. It was very clear.”

Peters then turned his rage on rabbinical student Levi Rosen­blat, 22, who was so engrossed in his religious studies he didn’t notice the commotion around him.

Israel Gotdenger, who took a cellphone video of Peters’ standoff with cops, described the stabbing as a real shock.

“He stabbed him out of the blue,” Gotdenger said. “He was trying to stab everybody . . . but the guy who got stabbed was busy studying, he wasn’t paying attention to what was going on.”

After attacking Rosenblat, ­Peters “pulled the knife straight out and tried to go to the next guy,” Gotdenger added. “He tried to go from one to another.”

The cellphone video shows several heroic Hasids trying to calm Peters and convince him to put down his knife before the cops burst in with guns drawn.

Men from the Chabad center banged on a nearby NYPD command post for help, and Officer Timothy Donohue rushed to the scene. Donohue, who called for backup, is seen on the video pleading with Peters to drop the blade.

Peters eventually relents and places it on a table, but he grabs the knife again just as Donohue prepares to arrest him.

Two others cops from the 71st Precinct arrived and also tried to get Peters to surrender, but he ­ignored the orders and lunged at Officer Roberto Pagan, who shot him dead, cops said.

Mayor de Blasio, who recently infuriated NYPD officers with his reaction to a grand jury’s decision not to indict chokehold cop Daniel Pantaleo, was quick to praise the police response.

“They responded quickly to a tense and dangerous situation, and while any loss of life is tragic, we are fortunate that, thanks to the actions of our officers early this morning, more people were not injured or worse,” de Blasio said.

Rosenblat was rushed to Kings County Hospital and then transferred to Bellevue Hospital in ­stable condition.

Chabad Rabbi Chaim Landa said an angiogram revealed no swelling of Rosenblat’s brain, but added that “a laceration was found and is being treated by doctors.”

Security guard Shimon Liberow said he first spotted Peters acting suspiciously at the 24-hour Chabad center at around 5:15 p.m. — more than eight hours before the assailant’s attack on Rosenblat.

“I confronted him at the door. I stopped him from going in. I knew he was up to no good. He was surveying around,” Liberow said. “I said, ‘Can I help you?’ He said, ‘You have a problem?’ I said, ‘Yes.’

“He asked if he can become Jewish, if he can convert,” Liberow added. “My friend told him you have to be Jewish to pray here. He abruptly left.”

Peters drove off in a silver Nissan Rogue SUV that cops found nearby hours after the stabbing.

Peters’ brother, Glen, was stunned to hear that Calvin had gone to Brooklyn at all.

“I spoke to him on the phone, I knew something was wrong . . . He never goes to Brooklyn,” the brother said. “He was afraid and paranoid and ill. You could tell he was mental . . . He just needed to be back on his medication.”

[ArneFufkin]

"I knew something was wrong .... He never goes to Brooklyn."   

I wonder if the media can find a middle school graduation photo of the perp?   From 1980 or so? 

This "Soccer Dad of Two"*, like all previous MSNBC-adored "gentle giants" and "unarmed youths" who "talked of going to college" and who were shot by police after  attacking and threatening them  - had an extensive criminal record.   

*

[alicewonders]

Where's Al Sharpton on this?