Rabbi At Poway Synagogue Had Previously Asked Off-Duty Border Patrol Agent To Come Armed To Services

The off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent who helped save the Jews at the Chabad in Poway, California, by chasing after the terrorist who began shooting at worshippers, had been previously asked by the rabbi of the synagogue to come armed to services.

Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who had two fingers blown off by the shooter during the Sabbath services that also centered on the last day of Passover, said of off-duty agent Jonathan Morales, “Morales recently discovered his Jewish roots. He would travel three and a half hours from El Centro to pray with us at our shul (synagogue). He felt this was his house of worship. And many times I said, ‘Jonathan, you work for the border patrol. Please arm yourself when you are here; we never know when we will need it.’”

Goldstein explained to CNN, “Unfortunately, we couldn’t afford to have an armed security officer at every service, so whenever we had extra help, we were grateful for it.”