this is bbc world news today. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories... a gunman opens fire in a jewish synagogue in the us city of pittsburgh. at least eight people have been killed. police say the shooter, who was inside the synagogue, has been taken into custody. he entered the building during a baby—naming ceremony. the more vile, hate filled poison of anti—semitism must be condemned and confronted everywhere and anywhere it appears. hello and welcome to world news today. american media say at least eight people have been killed in pittsburgh, after a shooting at a synagogue. four police officers are among the injured. the shooting took place at the tree of life synagogue during a baby—naming ceremony. it's located in the in the squirrel hill neighbourhood, which has a largejewish population.

the gunman, described as a "heavy—set white male with a beard", has been named by us media as robert bowers. he surrendered to police after a tense stand—off. richard lister begins our coverage. heavily armed police converging on squirrel hill, after reports that a man had opened fire in a synagogue. a peaceful suburban neighbourhood transformed in moments by a gunman. tactical weapon units were brought in from across the city. other officers sealed the area and began moving towards the building and its congregation as the attack continued. it is a suburb with a large jewish population. local media said the gunman shouted, "alljews must die," as he began his attack. residents, still unsure of what was happening, were escorted home. right now, we have multiple casualties. we're working on the situation. it is imperative that the neighbours in the community surrounding the tree of life synagogue stay in their houses and shelter in place.

do not come out of your home right now, it is not safe. we will give you an update as soon as we get one. police say they found a number of people sheltering in the synagogue basement, who they were led to safety. as the area was made safe, emergency teams were able to recover the injured and the dead. my heart goes out all of these families. they should not be happening — period. it should not be happening in a synagogue. happening in our neighbourhood here in squirrel hill. after a shoot out with the police the gunman gave himself up, but he's left yet another american community scarred by gun violence. president trump has been speaking about the attack, at a convention of young farmers in indianapolis. he called the shooting a wicked act of mass murder. and he said that the vile, hateful poison of anti—semitism must be condemned wherever it appears. but as you know, earlier today,

there was a horrific shooting targeting and killing jewish americans at the tree of life synagogue in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. the shooter is in custody and federal authorities have been dispatched to support state and local police, and conduct a full and thorough federal investigation. this wicked act of mass murder is pure evil, hard to believe and frankly something that is unimaginable. our nation and the world are shocked and stunned by the grief. this was an anti—semitic acts. you wouldn't think this would be possible in this day and age, but we just don't seem

to learn from the past. our minds cannot comprehend the cruel hate and the twisted malice that could cause a person to unleash such terrible violence during a baby naming ceremony. this was a baby naming ceremony. this was a baby naming ceremony at a sacred house of worship on the holy day. anti—semitism and the widespread persecution ofjews anti—semitism and the widespread persecution of jews represents anti—semitism and the widespread persecution ofjews represents one of the ugliest and darkest features of the ugliest and darkest features of human history. the file hate filled poison of anti—semitism must be condemned and confronted everywhere and anywhere it appears —— the vile, hate filled poison. there must be no tolerance of anti—semitism in america, orforany form of religious or hate racial

hatred of prejudice. you know that, you know that very well. cheering—macro you know that very well. you are outstanding people, you were bought up outstanding people, you were bought up incredibly by outstanding parents in most cases and ijust want up incredibly by outstanding parents in most cases and i just want to thank you for your understanding, because today, with a unified voice, we condemn the historic evil of anti—semitism and every other form of evil, and unfortunately evil comes in many forms, and we come together as one american people. i have just together as one american people. i havejust spoken, go together as one american people. i have just spoken, go ahead. release it. cheering

i have just i havejust spoken i have just spoken with the mayor of pittsburgh's, a terrific guy, and with the governor of pennsylvania, who i've been dealing with quite a bit lately on the hurricanes, and other things, tom wolfe, two terrific people, to assure the full and complete resources of my administration in the investigation of this attack. we are playing for the families of the victims in our hearts —— and our hearts go out to the wounded law enforcement officers in pittsburgh, very badly wounded, and very brave. the results and the fa cts and very brave. the results and the facts will be put out very shortly, but these were very brave officers. these are incredible people of law enforcement and law enforcement does

so much for us, so much for us. cheering they really do, they do so much for us, and they‘ re they really do, they do so much for us, and they're really unsung heroes, they don't get the credit they deserve, but i've always given them the credit. these are patriots, incredible people. we mourn for the undrinkable loss of life that took place today and we —— we mourn for the incredible loss of life that took place today and we hope for a place of tolerance, morality, dignity and love. we must all rise above the hate, move past our divisions and embrace our common destiny as americans, and it doesn't mean that we can't fight hard and be strong and say what's on our minds, but we have to always remember those

elements. we have to remember the elements. we have to remember the elements of love and dignity and respect and so many others, as we hold pennsylvania and the great people of pennsylvania close in our hearts and prayers. us president donald trump, speaking a short time ago about the shooting that has happened at the synagogue in pittsburgh's. joining me now from rockville, maryland, is boaz atzili. he's an associate professor of international relations at american university in washington dc. boaz atzili, what do you make of those comments by president trump a short time ago? very consulate free comments. right, these are the right words and it's comments. right, these are the right words and its expected he would say that. i think the test will be whether he will continue to speak in this kind of tone of voice within two or three days, because we know

that we've heard it before in many other places, condemnation, calls for civility, calls for moderation on all sides, but this is not something that all sides, it is one side of the political arena against the other, and i'm not talking only about the pittsburgh's attack of today, but also about the pipe bombing attempts in the last few days. some research has been suggesting that there has been an increase in anti—semitic attacks in the united states. certainly this attack that has happened has been quite awful at this synagogue. is it unfairto quite awful at this synagogue. is it unfair to really blame the fee bridal atmosphere at this moment —— the fee bridal atmosphere at this moment? i do apologise, we will have to continue this discussion because

there is a press conference taking place with police officers who are going to make some comments now about that shooting. at the synagogue in pittsburgh. we arejust we are just waiting for that news conference to begin. authorities there due to give us an update on that shooting at the synagogue in pittsburgh's in squirrel hill, a residential area, the largest jewish population in the state of pennsylvania in that area, that terrible shooting at a baby naming ceremony, where we believe at least eight people have been killed but perhaps we'll get an update on that. let's listen. public safety director, city of pittsburgh's to my left is scott scott schubert and

chief of police. first off on behalf of the city our hearts go out to all the victims but i've been involved in today's tragedy. these incidents usually occur in other cities. today, the nightmare has hit home here in the city of pittsburgh's. as you are well aware at 9:54am this morning calls were received at the elgin county emergency operations ce ntre elgin county emergency operations centre that an active shooter was inside the tree of life synagogue. at 9:55am officers were dispatched, apparently an initial confrontation between the subject and the officers occurred, injuring two of the officers. occurred, injuring two of the office rs. two occurred, injuring two of the officers. two additional officers we re officers. two additional officers were injured during the altercation. those were swat officers. multiple agencies responded to this incident

this morning, and without their courage this tragedy would have been far worse. those include numerous state, county and federal agencies, as well as neighbouring ems services along with the city of pittsburgh. additionally, the dispatches, the physicians, nurses, that assisted in this incident should also be commended. there were 11 fatalities asa commended. there were 11 fatalities as a result of the shooting incident. there were no children. there were additionally six injuries, to quote include four of the police officers. that does not include the suspect. chief schubert has visited several of the injured officers. he will update you as well as the doctor will update and give

your current update on the victims that are currently being treated. personally i would like to thank every agency that responded today, as well as the dispatches, the fbi. as you are aware this is a federal crime and both fac robjones and us are currently scott brady will discuss that. i'd like to take a few minutes and allow scott schubert to discuss the officers, what they encountered when they arrived at the scene this morning. chief. thank you, director. as the director said, first and foremost our hearts and thoughts and prayers go to the victims of this, and to our officers who responded. i can tell you by the timei who responded. i can tell you by the time i got there they were already starting to extract people from and watching those officers run into the

danger to remove people and get them to safety was unbelievable. for the swat officers, our swat officers and swat officers, our swat officers and swat tea ms swat officers, our swat officers and swat teams from around the region who were there, who went into the active shooting and were able to apprehend that actor, i can't speak more for the courage that they have. two of the officers who were hit as the director said were the first responders to the scene and were engaged and they are both in a sta ble engaged and they are both in a stable condition and is the director has said, two from our swat team during an engagement inside the building were struck as well. they are ina building were struck as well. they are in a stable condition. i was able to talk to two of the four and as soon as we get out of here were going to go back and see them again and see their families and thank them for thejob they and see their families and thank them for the job they did, and for saving lives, but we can't not

forget those victims inside that synagogue who lost their life. thank you. good afternoon, i'm bob jones, special agent in charge of the pittsburgh office of the fbi, thank you will stop certainly the actions of this person took today were hateful. we are in the early stages of this investigation and over the next several days and weeks we will look at everything in the suspect's life, his home, his vehicle, his social media and his movements over the last several days. at this point we have no knowledge that bowers was known to law enforcement before today. i want the people of pittsburgh's to know that the fbi will work around the clock to get them the answers to why and how this happened. that said, we ask for the public's patients in the coming hours and days as we work through this investigation. this is the most

horrific crime scene i've seen in 22 years with the federal be over investigation. members of the tree of life synagogue conducting a peaceful service in their place of worship were brutally murdered by a gunman targeting them simply because of their faith. the suspect's full motor is unknown but we believe he was acting alone. —— motive is unknown. the the fbi's critical incident response group, our office of victim assistance and operational technology vision, i can't say enough about the actions of the pittsburgh police, the pittsburgh's police swat team and the county police swat team and the county police headed not —— had it not been for the quick unheroic response of this would have been much worse. i'll turn over to governor. and governor town walls, pennsylvania, and today, words simply can't

express the sadness that all pennsylvanians feel for what happened today —— governor tom wolfe. i want to give my condolences first of all to the victims of this tragedy, theirfamilies first of all to the victims of this tragedy, their families and friends and to this community. the shooting is being investigated by the fbi as a hate crime. my heart breaks for the members of thejewish community. today, all of pennsylvania mourns with you. anti—semitism has absolutely no place in our commonwealth. any attack on one community of faith in pennsylvania is an attack against every community of faith in pennsylvania, and i want the jewish community across the commonwealth and across the country to know that we stand in support of view as we together mourn this senseless act of violence. the shabbat is a time for reflection, it's time forfinding shabbat is a time for reflection, it's time for finding peace, not for violence. pennsylvania's jewish community is strong, vibrant and

resilient. now is the time more than ever to come together and each other. i have spent today with first responders, with local leaders, and iam in responders, with local leaders, and i am in awe of the bravery displayed by law enforcement, those folks who helped to keep people safe, a victim sabratha tragedy. federal—state and law enforcement are working in concert to investigate this tragedy and maintain public safety. at the state level the pennsylvania emergency management agency and the department of health are in contact with local officials to assist any unmet needs. the pennsylvania state police have been on the scene already and are coordinating with federal and local law enforcement. pennsylvania state police's swat team, the helicopter, canine units and bomb technicians have all responded and are all assisting. my thoughts right now are focused on the victims, however. their families, theirfriends,

the victims, however. their families, their friends, and the victims, however. their families, theirfriends, and making sure that law enforcement has every resource that they need. in the aftermath of this tragedy we must all come together and we must take action to prevent these tragedies in the future. we simply cannot accept this violence is a normal part of american life. these senseless acts of violence are not who we are as pennsylvanians. they are not who we are as americans. thank you. good afternoon, i'm scott brady, the united states attorney for the western district of pennsylvania. to date is a tragic day for pittsburgh and our brothers and sisters in the jewish community. on behalf of the attorney general and the united states department of justice attorney general and the united states department ofjustice we want to express our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to the victims, their loved ones, the jewish community and everyone affected by this terrible and unspeakable act of hate. i spoke

with general sessions today, and he wanted me to express his condolences and know that he stands with pittsburgh's and with pittsburgh's's jewish communities. the reaction —— the actions of robert bowers represent the worst of humanity. we are dedicating the entire resources of my office to this federal hate crime investigation and prosecution and we expect to file criminal charges shortly, perhaps as early as today. please know thatjustice in this case will be swift and it will be severe. i want to echo the comments of chief schubert. and the bravery that was exhibited by the swat teams of pittsburgh's police and the county police, they ran towards gunfire to keep people safe. they exemplified today the best of all of the traditions of law enforcement and the pittsburgh's police. know that we're working together with our federal statement and law enforcement partners to gather all the facts, the corporation of law enforcement has

been outstanding. i was at the scene today which as was stated by special agentjones, was today which as was stated by special agent jones, was a today which as was stated by special agentjones, was a horrible scene to witness, and yet all of the federal—state and local partners stood together in concert and are working together to solve this. we deeply appreciate the response of the pittsburgh's police, the fbi, the pittsburgh's police, the fbi, the county police and all of our law—enforcement partners who are working so hard. know that we will working so hard. know that we will work day and night forjustice for the victims of this crime and please note that we'll continue to update you as we are able. thank you. good afternoon, i'm doctor don neely, a professor of emergency medicine and i oversee professor of emergency medicine and i oversee emergency professor of emergency medicine and i oversee emergency medicine for you pmc and the university of pittsburgh. at about 10am this morning we became aware of the incident and very quickly were able to put together the resources that we have available everyday at the

level one trauma centres, that includes you pmc presbyterian and you pmc mercy will stop we were able to dispatch to the scene three physicians working with police officers and our expanding ams providers to help assess the seam and help accomplish triage. we are blessed here to have the finest ems providers in the country and we are blessed because people have invested in people and resources over decades to make sure that we have that type of excellence. the patients were all transported to one of three facilities. four patients came to presbyterian, want to mercy and wa nted presbyterian, want to mercy and wanted allegheny general hospital. i can give you a listing of what those particular patients were. i cannot give you personal information. first patient was a 61—year—old female who had extremity soft tissue injuries that required cleaning and the operative room. she is doing well now and recovering. next was a 70—year—old male who had gunshot

wounds in his torso involving major organs inside of his abdomen. he underwent what we call a damage control laparotomy, that's underwent what we call a damage control la pa rotomy, that's an operation to get the initial injury under control, where we expect to have to do a second or third operation later. now having that second operation now. he's obviously in critical condition. a 55—year—old officer was also seen who had multiple extremity wombs, went to the 04 repair and cleaning of the wounds and finally another officer had essentially soft tissue injuries and grazing, and was having a com plete and grazing, and was having a complete evaluation and looks to be doing fine now. those are the four patients at presbyterian. another officer went to mercy, had an extremity injury that required evaluation in the operating room. a gain at officer is doing fine. happy to a nswer gain at officer is doing fine. happy to answer any questions if you have those. >> reporter—macro: did it seem like

perhaps a special type of bullet may have been used that would create any extra damage to what extent? i don't have any direct knowledge but it did not appear that way. reporter: inaudible some with multiple injuries, some with singular injuries. this is something we are prepared to take ca re of something we are prepared to take care of every day. i'm very proud of the team. we had extra physicians and nurses available to take care of whatever could happen. when we first heard of this we knew there were a few patients injured, some dead, we did not know the size and magnitude of this, so we were prepared to take ca re of of this, so we were prepared to take care of as many as were necessary. >> reporter—macro: the officer who went to mercy is 27 and the fourth in presbyterian i don't know his age. he is younger than me. yes.

reporter: can you give is a breakdown of the conditions? in a critical condition, the others are doing well, we would not, they were seriously injured but i'd not described as critical. reporter: inaudible the other 55—year—old. .. inaudible the other 55-year-old. .. yes. you are watching a news conference from authorities who have been giving us an update on that shooting that happened at the pittsburgh's alnwick box. we got a number of pieces of information —— pittsburgh's synagogue. ii fatalities confirmed, no children, six injuries, including four officers, but that doesn't include the suspect, and we were also told its the beginning of the investigation. no knowledge that bowers was known to law enforcement

and they are still getting a sense of the full motive, so is that news conference continues into questions there, let's go back to rockville, maryland, with boaz atzili, associate professor of international relations at the american university and washington. we heard there is no full motive, however, of course a lot of people talking about the febrile political atmosphere. how do you short—circuit the atmosphere and try and bring people together? first of all i want to say that even though police obviously have to be cautious, we already know from what's in the news that there were anti—semitic motives here, so this is clearly both a hate crime and terrorist attack, because it's a politically motivated attack against

civilians. i think it's definitely pa rt civilians. i think it's definitely part of the heated rhetorical atmosphere that is getting even more heated as we get closer to the mid—term elections. heated as we get closer to the mid-term elections. if there is real concern that that kind of atmosphere can't be changed on a political level surely there is something community members can do from both sides of the political divide to try and do something, if indeed it is that atmosphere that has led to this tragic incident? yeah, i think that communities from both sides can do more to calm the water and to use

responsible rhetoric, but i also think it would be a mistake to present this as a kind of parallel, because the heated and hateful rhetoric seems to come from predominantly one side of the political spectrum. is difficult though to dismiss the comments from supporters, from the republican, the president trump side of politics, who say that they feel the other side is quite often unfairly attacking their president, so surely there is a responsibility then from there is a responsibility then from the liberal side to try and tone things down? right, but the differences that the attacks on the liberal side seems to be attacks on things that they argue the president is not being truthful about, about

political positions, but they don't seem to carry the same kind of violent tone as the attacks from the right. but anybody who calls for any a cts right. but anybody who calls for any acts of violence, in my mind, even if it is justified in their own mind, should not be allowed to call for violence. boaz atzili in rockland, maryland, thank you very much for your analysis and hopefully things will certainly calm down in terms of the atmosphere. well, you are watching bbc news. of course, we will bring you far more details on that event at a synagogue in pittsburgh's, that shooting, but we are hearing 11 fatalities at this stage. much more coming up on bbc news. in 2007 the bbc film a group of us

soldiers in baghdad and is now a decade after they returned from iraq, our world tracks them down to find them still struggling to adjust to life back home. the programme contains some graphic images of war you may find upsetting. in 2007, an intense struggle was taking place in one of the most violent areas of iraq. the us army was fully engaged. as a bbc correspondent and cameraman, we watched them fight their lives. i was positive i wasn't coming home. i knew it, just because we were losing guys left and right. the sergeantjust stopped bleeding.