A survivor of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre described Sunday how he and other terrorized worshippers concealed themselves in a supply closet as the gunman stepped over the body of a man he had just shot and killed, entered their darkened hiding spot and looked around.
"I can't say anything, and I'm barely breathing," recalled Barry Werber, 76, in an interview with The Associated Press. "He didn't see us, thank God."
"He and I used to, at the end of services, try to tell a joke or two to each other," said Myron Snider, a fellow member of New Light Congregation. "Most of the time they were clean jokes. Most of the time. I won't say all the time. But most of the time."
"Most of all, they were kind, good people with a strong faith and respect for everyone around."
A day later, Werber called the gunman "a maniac" and "a person who has no control of his baser instincts."
"I don't know why he thinks the Jews are responsible for all the ills in the world, but he's not the first and he won't be the last. Unfortunately, that's our burden to bear," Werber said. "It breaks my heart."
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