Two Dead After Gunman Opens Fire In Bar

An uncle of the alleged suspect said he identified the shooter as his nephew after seeing surveillance video of the incident broadcast by Israeli media.

The Jan. 1 shooting left two people dead and at least eight injured, and has prompted a massive manhunt for the alleged killer as investigators look into the possibility that the shooting was inspired by the Islamic State, the Jerusalem Post reported. The footage then shows the man walking toward the entrance of the store, placing his backpack on a shopping cart and taking a gun out of it. He then steps outside and starts shooting, after which he runs away. Police have not confirmed witness accounts about what the attacker was wearing. That will only be clear in the coming hours or days; how fast Tel Aviv-the city that never sleeps, the place that most of us have felt safe in-returns to routine is hard to say. The business at that location is called Sidewalk Cafe.

It’s a pub on Dizengoff Street.

Undercover units and counter-terrorism units were working in different areas of Tel Aviv, Mr Rosenfeld said, adding that no specific warning of an attack had been received.

Hundreds of police were scouring the area, entering buildings in the vicinity as police helicopters buzzed overhead. The shooting happened outside the Simta pub, according to an address provided by police.

“I saw people running shouting, ‘Terrorist, terrorist!’ ” Pinto said in a telephone interview with CNN.

While mob killings and lethal domestic violence are fairly commonplace in Israel, random shootings by civilians are rare.

Mr Pinto said the pub had opened “just a few months ago”.

The attack occurred at around 3pm on Friday near Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Center Mall. Twenty Israelis were killed from October to mid-November alone, with others injured, the government said.

In a recording released Saturday, IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is apparently heard pledging to attack Israel, saying his group has “not forgotten Palestine for a single moment”.

An Israeli army spokesperson and Palestinian medical sources confirmed Friday that the operation had been completed.

The 28-year-old suspected gunman has been identified by relatives as an Israeli Arab from northern Israel.

However, there has been no claim by Palestinian armed factions for this attack.