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Jaime Tran of Riverside pleaded guilty May 14 to four felony counts related to the shootings of Jewish men leaving a Los Angeles synagogue.
The plea deal admits to two counts of hate crimes with intent to kill and two counts of using, carrying and discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.
The plea deal admits that Tran made antisemitic comments at students at his dental school before he left it in 2018. It also admits to antisemitic threats sent through text, including, “Someone is going to kill you, Jew,” repeated four times, and comments telling the recipient to burn in an oven chamber.
The deal also admits Tran emailed a flier to his classmates claiming “every single aspect of the COVID agenda is Jewish.”
Tran had multiple mental health holds that prevented him from purchasing firearms. In January, 2023, in Phoenix, Arizona, Tran asked someone to buy two firearms for him. He paid $1,500 in cash for a Khar Arms .380 caliber pistol and a Zastava model M70, semi-automatic rifle.
He selected his shooting location in Los Angeles by searching for a Kosher market on Feb. 15, 2023. After finding one listed in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood of Los Angeles, he found a Jewish man who was leaving his synagogue. Tran noticed his yarmulke, and decided to shoot him. He returned to the area and shot at another Jewish man leaving the synagogue the next day, the plea deal says.
Both men survived, according to the complaint filed against Tran. One man was hit in the lower back, and the other in the bicep.
The Los Angeles Police Department used video footage to find Tran. An officer took a photograph of Tran’s car, including his license plate, after the shooting. Police tracked his phone, and found him in Tran was found in Cathedral City Feb. 17, after firing his gun again, according to the complaint.
He said he had been homeless for the past 12 months, according to the complaint. According to prosecutors, Tran used to live in Riverside.
“This defendant sought to murder two men simply because they were Jewish,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada, according to a press release. “Rather than allow these horrific crimes to divide us, however, our community came together and swiftly brought the perpetrator to justice. Hate and intolerance have no place in America.”
Tran has not yet been sentenced, but could face life in prison.
Kathrynne Seiden and Frances Lewis, assistant United States attorneys, prosecuted.
Katherine Corrigan of Newport Beach’s Corrigan Welbourn & Stokke defended.
Case No. 2:23-00098
Read the plea agreement here.
