HALLE, Germany (AP) — Questions are being raised about police response after an attack on a synagogue in the German city of Halle after a gunman tried unsuccessfully to enter the house of worship during Yom Kippur observances and killed two people nearby.

The head of Germany's Jewish community, Josef Schuster, called the absence of police guards as "scandalous" as members of the synagogue described waiting behind locked doors for the police to arrive, which took more than 10 minutes.

The head of the Halle community, Max Privorozki, said Thursday "I thought, that door will not hold" as the attacker fired shots outside. Police union head Oliver Malchow said the response time showed "how thin police coverage is" and added that the wait "was especially long for the people who were in the synagogue."