Portugal Colonial - 'Bang, bang, bang': How US synagogue attack unfolded from inside

The 42-year-old witnessed the apparent antisemitic attack Thursday that caused a huge blaze and left only the assailant dead -- a Lebanese man granted US citizenship in 2016.

"I poked my head into the hallway. Saw smoke, saw staff running, and instincts kicked in," Plotkin told AFP near the Temple Israel synagogue, which houses a preschool that was in session.

"I immediately went into lockdown procedure in my office. I closed the window, I locked the door, and I hid under my desk," he said.

"At that moment, I was hearing a lot of bang, bang, bang, as I presume our officers were engaging the perpetrator."

Plotkin, executive director of Temple Israel, said that as his office filled with smoke he decided to make a break for the exit.

"I went away from where things were. I did see my officers through a window, actively engaging, but I didn't know what was going on and what they were dealing with," he said.

"But I trust my officer team, and I had to make the decision to run.

"I followed the protocols. I didn't go in a straight line. I zigzagged through different places, and I got outside."

- 'Smelled like a bomb' -

Plotkin said he learned the full extent of the attack once he spoke to law enforcement -- and immediately became worried for his colleagues and the more than 100 children.

"My first concern was our people inside," he said.

"We were actually about to start preschool pickup... and the officers asked me to keep the parents further back from the building.

"Certainly they wanted to rush in. But that could have actually put their children and our faculty and staff at risk."

Jen Lader, a rabbi at Temple Israel, said she witnessed chaos when she arrived at the building after being alerted by colleagues.

"It looked like a war zone," she told AFP.

Lader, 40, described "grabbing babies who were being schlepped across the street, and finding parents who were hysterical that their kids weren't here."

"The smoke was rising from the building. You could smell it in the air. A mile away, it smelled like a bomb," she said.

"It was crazy. I mean, people running around with their assault rifles and tactical gear.

"It was very scary and very surreal to have it be my home and my place, and the place where my family grew up."

Nogueira--PC