Security staff at Washington Hebrew Congregation in Washington, DC, stopped a man carrying a firearm from entering the synagogue on Saturday morning, detecting the weapon with a handheld metal detector before police arrived and made an arrest. No injuries were reported in the incident.
According to The Times of Israel, synagogue security detained the man after the handheld scanner flagged the weapon, and police responded to the scene at around 10:15 a.m. Officers recovered the firearm and arrested 32-year-old Tyler Finn of Lynchburg, Virginia, on the spot. Finn was charged with carrying a pistol without a license and possessing an unregistered firearm and ammunition, the outlet reported.
The The Times of Israel separately reported that the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington issued a statement confirming the incident at Washington Hebrew Congregation, a Reform synagogue in the district. The federation's community security initiative, JShield, exists to keep Jewish institutions informed, connected with law enforcement, and prepared to respond to security concerns, per that reporting.
Motive Still Under Investigation
Police have not disclosed what Finn intended to do once inside the building. As Jewish Insider reported, the suspect's intent and motive remain under investigation according to the Metropolitan Police Department. JShield told the outlet there was no known ongoing threat to the Greater Washington Jewish community following the arrest.
Jewish Insider also noted that Washington Hebrew Congregation was founded in 1852 and is one of the largest Reform synagogues in the country, with more than 2,200 members. The congregation's security staff were the ones who first identified the weapon before police ever arrived, underscoring the role in-house screening played in preventing the man from getting further into the building.
Part of a Broader Pattern of Incidents
The episode comes amid a string of security concerns at Jewish institutions nationally and locally. Jewish Insider's report referenced the March terrorist attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, in which an armed driver rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into the building. Separately, the Metropolitan Police Department said a person vandalized Adas Israel Congregation in Northwest DC on Oct. 10, shortly before 3 p.m., with antisemitic remarks, according to Washington Jewish Week. That outlet reported that police had not announced any arrests in that case and had not released a description of the suspect seen on security footage.
Antisemitic Incidents Trend Downward but Remain Elevated
The Anti-Defamation League reported that antisemitic incidents in the District of Columbia fell 18 percent in 2025, dropping to 124 incidents from 151 the year before, according to data published by ADL's DC regional office. Despite the year-over-year decline, the organization said incidents across the broader DC region in 2025 remained higher than 2022 levels. The ADL also noted that the District recorded 188 percent more antisemitic incidents in 2025 than in 2020, when the city logged just 43 incidents for the year.
