As many as 11 people are dead, and four police officers have been shot, at a mass shooting at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood Saturday morning.

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Here is what we know about that synagogue:

  • The Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill hosts at least two Jewish congregations.
  • The Tree of Life congregation's roots trace back more than 150 years, when a group of congregants left Rodef Shalom, Pittsburgh's oldest congregation, to form their own. The congregation merged with the Or L'Simcha congregation in 2010 to form the Tree of Life*Or L'Simcha congregation.
  • The building at the corner of Shady and Wilkins avenues was built in 1946 by the Tree of Life congregation.
  • The congregation's former building on Craft Avenue is now the Rauh Theatre, utilized by the Pittsburgh Playhouse as a performing arts theater.
  • The other congregation that uses the building is the Dor Hadash, a segment of the Reconstructionist Jewish belief, the most progressive and newest of the belief systems. Dor Hadash was founded in 1963.
  • Tree of Life is a conservative Jewish congregation. Conservative Judaism is a version of the faith that straddles progressive and conservative elements – more traditional than Reform Judaism and more progressive than Orthodox Judaism.
  • The head rabbi of Tree of Life is Hazzan Jeffrey Myers, who has led the congregation since August 2017.
  • Dor Hadash was scheduled to hold a Torah study service at 10 a.m. Saturday. The Tree of Life congregation was scheduled to hold Shabbat services at 9:45 a.m.

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Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com