11 dead in Pittsburgh synagogue shooting; suspect hinted at attack on social media

PITTSBURGH - A man with a history of making anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant social media posts burst into a synagogue in Pittsburgh and opened fire on Saturday morning services that included a baby-naming ceremony, killing 11 people and wounding six more, authorities said.

The shooting, which began shortly before 10 a.m., was probably "the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the United States" and marks a worrying new peak in violence against Jewish Americans in recent years, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which has monitored anti-Semitism in the U.S. for more than a century.

It came just days after a flurry of explosive devices were mailed to prominent Democrats and other critics of President Donald Trump, further ratcheting up a sense of tension in the nation in the closing weeks of an intense midterm election campaign.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said federal prosecutors, who are investigating the killings as a hate crime, could seek the death penalty against the suspected shooter, who is in custody.

The shooting