President Trump condemned the gunman who opened fire at a Pittsburgh synagogue on Saturday, killing eight people, calling the shooter a “wacko” and saying he should get the death penalty.
“Anyone who does a thing like this to innocent people … they should really pay the ultimate price,” Trump told reporters before departing for a rally in Illinois.
Trump lamented the “terrible, terrible things going on with hate” and suggested that armed guards could have prevented such a shooting.{mosads}
“This is a case where if they had an armed guard inside they would have been able to stop him immediately,” he said.
When asked if all places of prayer should have guards, Trump said, “I hate to think of it that way … it’s certainly an option, this is a world with a lot of problems.”
Trump, pressed about the possibility of stiffening gun restrictions in response to the shooting, said Saturday’s shooting had “little to do” with gun laws.
“If they had protection inside the results would have been far better,” he said.
Asked about what could be done to curb such violence, Trump also suggested bringing the death penalty “into vogue.”
“We should stiffen up our laws in terms of the death penalty,” he said. “When people do this they should get the death penalty … they should very much bring the death penalty into vogue,” he said.
Police said they had taken one suspect into custody following the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood.
Eight people were killed and several more were injured, according to a local CBS affiliate KDKA.
Police sources told KDKA that the gunman shouted “all Jews must die” before he opened fire.
Trump had tweeted earlier Saturday about the shooting, urging people to “beware of active shooter” and saying “god bless all.”