A lone gunman burst into a Jewish organization in downtown Seattle yesterday, killing one woman and wounding five others in what authorities were calling a hate crime.
The gunman, Naveed Afzal Haq (31), was arrested without a struggle at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, where the shooting took place.
He was later charged by Seattle police with one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder.
Haq is a Muslim US citizen, police said.
Amy Wasser-Simpson, the federation's vice president, is reporteded as saying the man got past security at the building and shouted, "I'm a Muslim American; I'm angry at Israel," before he began shooting. The federation had organized a large rally last weekend to demonstrate support for Israel's opposition to Hizbollah.
"This was a purposeful, hateful act as far as we know, by an individual acting alone," said Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels at a news conference, adding: "This is a crime of hate."
Authorities said they were "taking every precaution" in searching for explosives and additional suspects and were monitoring the city's synagogues and Jewish organizations.
"We are also protecting mosques, because there is always the concern of retaliatory crime," said Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske.
Seattle police alerted its officers earlier this week about carefully monitoring synagogues, temples and mosques, but Mr Kerlikowske said it had received no specific threats.