Suspect in German synagogue shooting confesses, says he was motivated by anti-Semitic, right-wing views

A man has reportedly confessed to killing two people near a synagogue in Halle, Germany, this week and expressed anti-Semitic and extreme right-wing views. 

The man, identified as Stephan B., appeared before a judge in Karlsruhe, Germany’s, Federal Court of Justice, CNN reported Friday.

{mosads}Markus Schmitt, press officer of the prosecutor at the court, was quoted as saying “Stephan B. has admitted to the accusations and specifically to his anti-Semitic as well as right-wing extremist motives,” by the news network.

Two people were killed in a shooting near the synagogue on Wednesday, which was Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in Judaism. One person was killed right outside the synagogue and another was killed at a kebab shop close by.

The shooter live-streamed the incident on the streaming website Twitch. CNN reported that the person fired several shots at a lock on the synagogue door but could not enter.

There has been a nearly 20 percent rise in anti-Semitic hate crimes in Germany from 2017 to 2018, and physical attacks on Jewish people rose from 37 to 69, the news network reported.

The U.S. has also faced recent synagogue shootings, as one person was killed in an incident in Poway, Calif., earlier this year and 11 were killed in Pittsburgh last year.