Man fires gun outside New York state synagogue

Officials arrested a man in the New York capital of Albany on Thursday after he fired a gun outside a synagogue, the state's governor said.

No one was injured in the incident, which occurred just hours before the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

The 28-year-old suspect, a local resident, was seen "walking around outside the synagogue acting very suspicious, according to witnesses," Governor Kathy Hochul said.

He then "fired off a round from a shotgun while making threatening statements."

"The safety of Jewish New Yorkers is nonnegotiable," Hochul said. "Every act, whether it's verbal or physical, any act of anti-Semitism is unacceptable."

New York rejects "hate, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia," she said, adding that police would be on alert during Hanukkah.

Hochul and Eric Adams, mayor of New York city located some 90 miles (150 kilometers) to the south of Albany, participated in several demonstrations in support of Israel and Jewish-Americans at the start of the Israel-Hamas war.