They covered one another and corralled children toward exits.

I love reporting which focuses on the unacknowledged heroes rather than the deranged lunatic. From Synagogue Congregants Tell of Quick Action to Save Children Amid Chaos of Attack by Ian Lovett and Esther Fung.

Oscar Stewart was sitting in the back of the Chabad of Poway synagogue when he heard the gunshots, some 20 minutes after 11 a.m. services began on Saturday. He said his first reaction was to run and he sprinted out into the entryway—where he saw the gunman, firing an AR-style rifle down the hallway.

Mr. Stewart, 51 years old, said he shouted and charged at the shooter.

“As he saw me, he dropped his weapon, turned and ran,” Mr. Stewart said. “He may have been trying to change a magazine, or he just panicked.”

On Sunday, details of the shooting—which left one dead and three injured at a worship service on the last day of Passover—were beginning to emerge.

The suspect—19-year-old John Earnest—was in custody on charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder. Police said the shooting was being investigated as a hate crime after authorities found an online message in his name, in which he espouses anti-Semitism and allegedly claims to have set a fire at a mosque last month.

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Interviews with congregants and others among the approximately 100 people who were in the synagogue portrayed a chaotic yet short-lived incident in which people recognized quickly that a shooter was in their midst and took action. They covered one another and corralled children toward exits.

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“I see a sight that—undescribable. Here is a young man standing with a rifle, pointing right at me,” the rabbi said. “He had sunglasses on. I couldn’t see his eyes. I couldn’t see his soul.”

More shots were fired, and the rabbi lifted his hands up. He lost the index finger on his right hand; doctors performed surgery Saturday to save the left index finger.

Rabbi Goldstein ran back into the banquet hall, hoping to get the children who were playing there to safety.

[snip]

Almog Peretz, 34, was visiting from Israel and came to Chabad of Poway with his sister and her family on Saturday. About an hour into prayers, he said, he was taking one of his nieces to play outside. Suddenly, behind him, he heard something that sounded like a bomb.

Mr. Peretz turned around and saw the gunman, standing near the front door of the synagogue with his gun pointed in his direction. He was hit a moment later—the bullet passed through his lower leg. His 8-year-old niece, Noya, was also hit.

He grabbed Noya and a younger child, and ran out a back door. At least a dozen children were playing outside, and he yelled at them to run.

“I tell them, ‘Come this way!’” he said. He said he led the children down a hill to a house where the rabbi’s son lives. Both Mr. Peretz and Noya have been released from the hospital.

[snip]

Meanwhile, both Mr. Stewart and a Border Patrol agent who is a member of the congregation were pursuing the shooter, Rabbi Goldstein said.

As the gunman got into his car, Mr. Stewart heard the agent shout for everyone to clear away. Mr. Stewart backed off, and the agent fired five shots at the car, hitting it four times.

The rabbi said he had previously asked the agent, Jonathan Morales, to bring his weapon to worship, in case they needed it. He also said he and some members of the synagogue had previously attended a conference held by the city of Poway about how to deal with active shooters, and that helped them evacuate quickly.

Brave people in a dreadful situation doing wonderful things for one another - and great reporting.