Police block street (archives)
Police block street (archives)Reuters

Vandals used a BB gun to blast a hole through the window of a Philadelphia synagogue and shot hundreds of bullets at the door, but synagogue leaders have not called it a hate crime.

No one was injured, and prayers were not taking place when the bullets hit during or shortly before a social event at Congregation Ner Zedek-Ezreth.

A congregant noticed that a window had been broken, the synagogue's office manager Terri Bass told the Jewish Exponent. A further investigation revealed several bullet homes in the synagogue's door frame.

The synagogue’s security system did not capture the vandalism on camera.

Gross said that police were notified, but the Exponent said that despite anti-Semitic swastika vandalism two years ago, “Synagogue leaders have so far been hesitant to characterize this episode as such. Police have been notified of the incident.

The BB gun shooting broke a relatively quiet period of quiet in the northeastern Philadelphia area.

The synagogue has repaired the window and is awaiting estimate of the cost of repair to the door.