A 34-year-old man originally from Israel who survived the shooting this spring at Chabad of Poway in Southern California is suing the synagogue, accusing it of not using federal funding to protect the congregation.
In the 12-page lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Almog Peretz stated that the house of worship did not have proper security and did not utilize a $150,000 grant to upgrade its security.
Lori Gilbert-Kaye, 60, was shot and killed in the synagogue lobby.
Three others, including Peretz and his 8-year-old niece, and Chabad of Poway’s senior rabbi, Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, were injured in the shooting, which occurred on April 27, the last day of Passover.
Goldstein has since recently announced his retirement.
In late March, Chabad of Poway received $150,000 in a security grant from the federal government to install gates and secure doors.
“Obviously, we did not have a chance to start using the funds yet,” Rabbi Simcha Backman, who oversees security grants for the 207 Chabad institutions across California, told The Associated Press in May.
John Earnest, 20, has been charged in the shooting.
