Two dead, eight wounded in shooting on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv
Police arrested a suspicious figure on Gordon street, but the shooter still remains at large. Unclear if attack was nationalistically or criminally motivated.
By JPOST.COM STAFFUpdated: JANUARY 1, 2016 16:32Scene of Dizengoff shooting attack
Two people were killed and eight others were wounded in a shooting attack which took place on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv on Friday afternoon. According to MDA spokesman Zaki Heller, the shooting took place near a bar located on Dizengoff 130.Four victims remain in serious condition, three are in moderate condition, and one was lightly injured. MDA paramedics were on the scene treating the wounded. The injured were taken to Sorasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv and Wolfson Medical Center in Holon.Police arrested a suspicious figure on Gordon street, but the shooter still remains at large.Police are warning residents to stay away from the area while they comb the area for the suspect.The circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear. Police are still uncertain if the attack was nationalistically motivated, or possibly a hate crime.Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai rushed to the scene of the shooting attack told assembled media there that in his opinion the attack "appears to be a terrorist attack motivated by nationalism.""What I know is that an individual came here and opened fire," the mayor said. "This appears to be motivated by nationalism. Tel Aviv has been a target in the past, and here it is rearing its ugly head again."When asked about reports that the bar which was hit catered to the gay, lesbian, and transgender community, Huldai said: "This bar doesn't have any unique significance for me. It's a pub on Dizengoff Street. We need to stop being hysterical. There was a terrible event here, and we will get through it just as we have gotten through similar ones in the past."
Horrified witnesses recall the harrowing moments when a gunman began shooting toward a Tel Aviv bar on the busy Dizengoff Street early Friday afternoon."It was a regular Friday, calm as per usual," said Noah, an eyewitness. "I remember complaining about the sandwich taking a long time to be prepared. Suddenly we heard a gunshot.""After the second gunshot, a father ran in here with his son and yelled, 'Get down!' We still didn't process what was going on. Suddenly there was a shot toward the coffee shop in which we were sitting. Then I saw the gunman standing right in front of me. He had a black jacket, black hair, a goatee, and he was holding his rifle with two hands.""We dropped to the floor and I remember the smile on his face," she said. "He shot once again toward the cafe. Suddenly, he fled and people began running after him. People were collapsing because of the stress, but there weren't casualties where I was.""It took the police seven minutes to arrive," she said. "The gunshots at our cafe were the last shots he fired before fleeing.Israeli police have sealed off thoroughfares in central Tel Aviv in what appears to be a door-to-door search for the gunman.Authorities have blocked off Ibn Gabirol and Arlozorov Streets to traffic. Residents who live in these areas are escorted to their homes by police.