WARNING: This story includes graphic hate language prosecutors attribute to the accused.
Prosecutors charged Jaime Tran, formerly of Riverside, with shooting two Jewish men in Los Angeles Feb. 17.
Prosecutors said Tran shot two Jewish men with an AK-style rifle as they left synagogues in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood of Los Angeles Feb. 15 and 16.
Both men survived. One has a wound to the lower back, and the second has a wound in his bicep, according to the complaint. Tran was found in Cathedral City, after discharging his gun again.
Tran’s appointed counsel has not yet responded to a request for comment.
The maximum sentence is life without parole.
During a recorded interview, Tran admitted to shooting the men, according to the complaint.
He said he found them by driving to a kosher market he found on Yelp, and by looking for their “head gear,” meaning their yarmulkes.
He said he had been homeless for the past 12 months. According to prosecutors, Tran used to live in Riverside.
“Over the past two days, our community experienced two horrific acts we believe were motivated by antisemitic ideology that caused him to target the Jewish community,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “It is important, especially in one of the most diverse areas in the world, that we celebrate our differences, and stand together to oppose acts of hate.”
Tran has a history of antisemitism, prosecutors claimed in their complaint. Tran wrote an email in December, 2022, to his former dental school classmates that said Jewish people are primitive, and that they should blame any inconvenience from the COVID-19 lockdown on the “Iranian Jew.”
He was expelled from the dental school in 2018. A classmate said he was expelled because of antisemitic remarks. Tran had texted a former classmate “Someone is going to kill you, Jew,” “I want you dead, Jew,” and “Burn in an oven chamber you… Jew,” according to the complaint.
Both attacks were drive-by shootings, the complaint said.
The Los Angeles Police Department found Tran using video footage. An officer took a photograph of Tran’s car, including his license plate, after the shooting. Police matched the car in the video to the footage from the officer.
Police tracked Tran’s location after finding his phone number. They found him in Cathedral City, after he shot his gun again. The complaint did not say why he fired his gun in Cathedral City.
Read the complaint here.
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