Investigators released this photo of a man sought in connection with the incident at a synagogue in San Francisco. (Photo from the FBI San Francisco)
A man seen in surveillance video firing a gun with blanks inside a synagogue in San Francisco and brandishing a gun inside a theater blocks away last week has been arrested, police said.
Dmitri Mishin, 51, of San Francisco, is currently in jail on charges of disturbing religious meetings and drawing or exhibiting an imitation firearm, according to the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office.
He’s accused of walking into the Schneerson Center for Jewish Life in San Francisco’s Richmond District on Wednesday night.
The defendant can be seen in video in a baseball cap and jacket, shooting blanks, muzzle flash firing.
The San Francisco Chronicle cited witnesses saying he made a comment that he was with the Mossad, the intelligence agency for Israel, before saluting and walking out the door.
Nobody was hurt. Police said they found expended casings at the synagogue that were possible blanks.
Alon Chanukov, vice president of the synagogue’s board, told Fox San Francisco affiliate KTVU that people were shocked when it went down.
“Half of them didn’t realize what was happening,” he said. “A few of them duck. They didn’t even get out of their seats before this is all over.”
The suspect is believed to have brandished a gun at a theater blocks away the night before the attack at the synagogue, police said.
A theater employee told police that a man pulled out a gun while he spoke with employees and looked at merchandise at the theater before leaving. Nobody was hurt.
A search of the suspect’s home allegedly turned up evidence related to both cases, but police did not elaborate on what they found.
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