PittsburghThey all remember the minutes, and the hours, when Tree of Life ceased to be the quiet aging synagogue on a hill.

Paula Garret, running late for services, was leaving home when her phone pinged with frantic “don’t go” messages because gunshots were heard at the corner of Shady and Wilkins avenues. Andrea Wedner and her 97-year-old mom, Rose Mallinger, were sitting on a wooden pew inside when a thunderous steely rattle shook the synagogue’s walls. Get down, Wedner said in a breath too late for the gunman rounding the corner. Carol Black scurried into a dusty closet as her brother Richard Gottfried was lost forever in the chaos. Dan Leger, a congregant struck by several bullets, thanked God for a good