(NY Times) A man fired a shotgun into the air outside an Albany, N.Y., synagogue on Thursday afternoon and later said, “Free Palestine,” according to the police, sending the building into lockdown and prompting local and federal investigations hours before the beginning of Hanukkah.
No one was injured, and a suspect was quickly arrested nearby. The man, Mufid Fawaz Alkhader, 28, was charged with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm, a felony. He was remanded to await trial on Friday and had not yet filed a plea.
The Albany police chief, Eric Hawkins, said the authorities were investigating the shooting, which occurred around 2 p.m. Thursday at Temple Israel in the state capital, as a hate crime.
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