YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The Youngstown Area Jewish Federation has released a statement reacting to the gunman in the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh back in 2018 being handed a death sentence.

The statement from Youngstown Area Jewish Federation CEO, Andrew Lipkin and Executive Director, Bonnie Deutsch Burdman reads as follows:

"The jury's decision to sentence the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter to death brings an end to a nearly five-year process that the community and families of his victims had to endure."

"The shooting and its aftermath impacted our local community as well. Many grew up in the Squirrel Hill area of Pittsburgh or have friends and family still living there. We grieved with them in 2018 and rallied around them following the massacre."

"We hope and pray that a final decision brings some measure of closure to the community and families of his victims, though nothing can bring back the 11 people massacred that day. Each person experiences traumatic situations differently. Support and mental health assistance is available."

"Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil and David Rosenthal, Bernice and Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax and Irving Younger will never be forgotten. We will honor their memories at a service Oct. 26 at Congregation Ohev Beth Sholom. Oct. 27 marks five years since the massacre."