Alleged Tree of Life shooter indicted for federal hate crimes, could face death penalty

Police tape around the Tree of Life synagogue.
(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

The man suspected of killing 11 people at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue on Saturday has been indicted on 44 federal counts.

Robert Bowers was indicted Wednesday with federal hate crimes for the deadliest attack on Jewish people in U.S. history, and "faces a maximum possible penalty of death, or life without parole, followed by a consecutive sentence of 535 years' imprisonment," reports CNN's Jake Tapper. Those charges include 11 counts of obstructing religious freedom resulting in death and 11 counts of committing violent crime using a firearm, among others.

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Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.