Jury Rules Death Penalty for Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter

Topline

Robert Bowers—the man convicted of killing 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018—will face the death penalty after a Pennsylvania jury agreed he should be executed after carrying out the deadliest attack on Jewish people in U.S. history.

Robert Bowers killed eleven people and injured six others when he opened fire on a crowd of … [+] worshipers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

AP/Matt Rourke

Key Facts

Jurors spent two days deliberating before they announced they reached a consensus.

During the first day of deliberations on whether Bowers should face the death penalty, the jury asked two questions of the court, according to CNN, asking to examine the guns used in the shooting and for a copy of documents in evidence about Bowers’ family history.

If the jury could not agree, Bowers, 50, would have been sentenced to life in prison without parole.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

Key Background

On October 27, 2018, Bowers killed eleven people and injured six others when he opened fire on a crowd of worshipers using an AR-15 style rifle at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. In June, he was convicted on all 63 charges, including 11 counts of hate crimes causing death, 11 counts of using a firearm to commit murder during and in relation to a violent crime and 11 counts of obstruction of the exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death. A month later, the jury found Bowers eligible for the death penalty and began deliberating that sentencing earlier this week.