WarSclerotic

Shooting attack in heart of Tel Aviv kills two, injures eight, DEBKAfile, January 1, 2016

A gunman in black opened automatic fire on crowds outside the Dioz Bar, on Dizengoff Street in central Tel Aviv Friday, Jan. 1, injuring 10 people, two of whom died of gunshot wounds and four were seriously injured. He escaped as large police and security forces reached the scene. They have cast a wide net to hunt the killer in the neighboring streets up to the seaside promenade. Police officials decline at this point to determine whether the gunman was a Palestinian or Islamic terrorist or a criminal murderer.

In the former case, the Tel Aviv attack would be the most serious terrorist atrocity in the three-month wave of violence launched by the Palestinians three months ago. Conflicting reports have come in from eye witnesses, who saw the young man clad in black and masked, spraying the street and tables outside a cafe with automatic fire. Two saw the shooter running off after the attack and chased by civilian security guards with drawn pistols who gave up when the police arrived. Other witnesses said there were two shooters, one a woman, who fired into shop windows and at passersby on their way to escape in a waiting car. According to another, he escaped on a motorbike. One witness saw him sitting on a street bench and opening fire when the street became crowded. They all agreed that he was extremely calm.

Shocked Tel Aviv veterans report they had never before seen a large pack of civilians and police running down a main city street with drawn guns. After the shooter escaped, the police turned to sweeping nearby buildings, combing through apartments and picking up suspects and witnesses.

DEBKAfile’s counterterrorism sources say that the Tel Aviv gunman’s modus operandi is unfamiliar to Israel’s anti-terror services. It is not typical of Palestinian methods of murder, but more closely resembles the Islamic State massacre in Paris on Nov. 13.

This entry was posted on January 1, 2016 at 5:40 PM and is filed under Islamic State, Israel, Palestinian terrorists, Tel Aviv. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Islamic State, Israel, Palestinian terrorists, Tel Aviv