(JTA) — Members of the Jewish community of Miami are offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of two suspects in the murder of Rabbi Joseph Raksin.
The reward was reported on Sunday by the Miami Herald.
Raksin, 60, an Orthodox rabbi from Brooklyn, was shot and killed on his way to synagogue services in North Miami Beach on Saturday morning.
The funeral was set for Sunday afternoon, according to the Miami Herald.
Raksin reportedly was in town visiting his granddaughter and other relatives. He was walking to the synagogue, Bais Menachem, when he was confronted by the two young males being sought.
Police said Raksin was shot several times following an altercation, though witnesses told NBC reporters that there was no altercation and the assailants were African-American males. Raksin was airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center, where he died.
Police said the shooting likely was a robbery gone bad.
“At this time there is no indication of this being a hate crime,” Miami-Dade police spokeswoman Elena Hernandez said in a statement, according to the Miami Herald.
A nearby synagogue, Torah V’Emunah, was the target of vandalism on July 28, with swastikas and the word “Hamas” spray-painted on the front pillars.
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