NASHVILLE — Shots were fired Monday at a synagogue here on a busy street about 6 miles from downtown, police said.
Investigators said they are searching for the gunman. No one was injured in the incident at around 8:30 a.m. CT.
The shooting at West End Synagogue, a Conservative Judaism congregation with more than 400 members, comes as most Nashville-area Jewish leaders were starting to gather at the state Capitol for the Tennessee Holocaust Commission’s annual Day of Remembrance ceremonies. Across the USA, Holocaust Remembrance Day this year begins Wednesday evening and ends Thursday at sundown.
At the synagogue, a maintenance worker heard a loud sound, came to the front of the building and discovered a bullet hole, police spokesman Don Aaron said.
Nashville is home to three synagogues, and the Jewish community in the area is now on high alert, Mark Freedman, executive director for the Jewish Federation of Nashville and Middle Tennessee.
“Every synagogue and Jewish institution has been notified through our security team,” Freedman said Monday. “Naturally, we are always concerned when incidents especially like this one come up.”
West End Synagogue was founded in 1874 as Kal Kodesh Adath Israel in downtown Nashville. In 1950, it was renamed and moved to its current location.
