California synagogue worshipper recalls grabbing grandson when shots rang out

Shimon Abitbul says when gunfire erupted inside a San Diego-area synagogue, he immediately placed his 2-year-old grandson on the floor.

Abitbul says he was attending a service at Chabad of Poway yesterday with his son-in-law and grandson when the shooting started.

Abitbul says he grabbed the toddler and sprinted away when there was a break in the gunfire. He later returned to try to help a woman he described as having a hole in her chest. He later found out 60-year-old Lori Gilbert-Kaye died of her wounds.

He says the congregation’s rabbi was shot in the hand and had wrapped his wounded fingers in a prayer shawl.

Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein and two other people who were injured are expected to recover.

Abitbul says he is still coming to terms with the carnage.

— AP