LOS ANGELES, CA, August 10, 1999… The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today expressed horror and outrage at the shooting attacks at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, California.

David A. Lehrer, Regional Director of ADL’s Pacific Southwest Region issued the following statement: "We are confident that the perpetrator(s) will be arrested and brought to justice for what we believe is a hate crime."

In light of the rash of hate crimes throughout the country, including the synagogue arsons in Sacramento and the shootings in the Midwest, today’s shooting at a Jewish Community Center has understandably led many to conclude this horrific incident was motivated by anti-Semitism. The recent tragic shootings at schools in Littleton, Colorado and Conyers, Georgia have focused public attention on another dimension of the problem – the ease with which virtually anyone is able to obtain a gun in America.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.