NYPD deploys officers to religious centers after Pittsburgh shooting

The New York Police Department (NYPD) said Saturday that it would deploy officers to places of worship in the city as a precaution after a shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said in a statement that “initial reports suggest that this senseless act of gun violence was an anti-Semitic attack and we stand together with the Jewish community in this difficult time as we always have before.”

“As a precaution, I have directed State Police to increase patrols around Jewish centers and houses of worship across the state,” he added.

New York grieves for those who were killed and prays for those who were injured in this heinous anti-Semitic attack in Pittsburgh. As a nation we must stand together and stand against the corrosive and destructive forces of hate in all of its forms. pic.twitter.com/eyBfd11tS7

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) October 27, 2018

NYPD spokesman J. Peter Donald said that officers from the department’s Critical Response Command and Strategic Response Group would be among those sent to places of worship across the city.{mosads}

“Additionally, sector cars in every command across New York City will be making additional visits to ensure the safety of all of our residents,” Donald said in a statement posted to Twitter.

The statement stressed that the steps were being taken as a precaution, with officials saying they did not believe there was a direct link to New York from the shooting in Pennsylvania earlier in the day.

Eight people were reported killed and several others wounded on Saturday after a gunman opened fire at a synagogue in Squirrel Hill, a neighborhood in Pittsburgh. A suspect has been taken into custody.

President Trump called the gunman a “madman” and called for him to receive the death penalty.