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Rescue personnel treating a victim of the shooting at a gay club in Tel Aviv on Saturday night.
(Haaretz)
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Last update - 08:59 02/08/2009
Two killed in shooting at Tel Aviv gay center
By Haaretz Service and News Agencies
Tags: Israel News 
15 others wounded in shooting spree; police launch manhunt for gunman; MK Horowitz: This is a hate crime.

A gunman shot dead two people and wounded at least 15 others in an attack at a central Tel Aviv gay and lesbian center Saturday night before fleeing the scene.

Israel Police said that the incident at the club on Nahmani Street did not have a terror motive. The two victims were initially identified as a 24-year-old man and a 17-year-old woman.

Witnesses told Israeli television that the black-clad, masked gunman stormed into the Tel Aviv Gay and Lesbian Association building and opened fire in a basement room where gay teenagers were holding a weekly support group.

Most of the casualties were minors, a police spokesman said, adding that the assailant was believed to have used an automatic weapon such as an M-16 rifle.

Channel 10 television reported that a police manhunt for the gunman was underway in the city. The channel also said that police had closed all the gay clubs in the area following the attack.

Witnesses said the gunman entered the center at around 11 P.M. and opened fire in all directions.


View Tel Aviv shooting attack in a larger map

Magen David Adom emergency service said that five of the wounded had been taken for treatment to Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital, two of them in critical condition.

Five others who were lightly hurt were taken to the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon.

Tel Aviv District Police chief, Major General Shahar Ayalon, said that there had been a gathering of young people at the center in which the attack took place. He said that police officers had been deployed across the area in the wake of the shooting.

An eyewitness said that he had been sitting at nearby Cafe Noir when he heard gunshots.

"We saw a woman running toward us covered in blood," Adi Shimoni told Channel 10. "We saw the gunman flee in the direction of Ahad Ha'am [Street]... He was wearing what looked like a ski mask."

Shimoni said that he had then entered the club, where "there were many wounded and a lot of blood."

Meretz MK Nitzan Horowitz, Israel's only openly gay lawmaker, condemned the attack on as a hate crime.

"This is undoubtedly the worst incident targeting the gay community in Israel. It has the characteristics of a hate crime, of someone who attacked to blindly strike out at every person on the spot," he said.

'There was nowhere to run'

A 16-year-old victim of the shooting said on Saturday that he feared the incident would force others to disclose their homosexuality.

"I'm horrified to think that this is the way the parents of some of my friends will find out," Or Gil, who was taken to Ichilov Hospital following a knee and chest injury, told Haaretz.

"At about 10.40 P.M. someone came over, all dressed in black and wearing a black mask," he recounted. "I thought it was a joke at first, but he immediately opened fire. People took cover under the bed and tables, but there were no screams. I hid under a table with someone else. It's a small place; there's just one terrace. Once you're inside, there's nowhere to run."

Gil came to the center every week to take part in activities for teenagers.

"It's for 14- to 21-year-olds," he said. "Teenagers just hang out there, talking and listening to music."

"I love this place," Gil concluded, "but I don't know if I will ever go back there. I want to, but it's too soon to say.
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  1.   Hate crimes are terror 00:24  |  Jeroen de Jager 02/08/09
  2.   Deplorable 00:30  |  Trev 02/08/09
  3.   Did not have aterror motive---hmmm???. 01:07  |  Labhras 02/08/09
  4.   Shooting in Tel Aviv 01:17  |  David Gold 02/08/09
  5.   We`ve Done Worse 01:58  |  Itai 02/08/09
  6.   I`m Horrified 02:26  |  Sol 02/08/09
  7.   Openly Gay Member of the Knesset 02:26  |  Yered Shmuel 02/08/09
  8.   Shocking! 02:27  |  Gisele 02/08/09
  9.   Terror or not terror 02:29  |  Philip 02/08/09
  10.   Tel Aviv attack 03:21  |  Stig 02/08/09
  11.   Fight This as a Nation 04:24  |  Straight but dealing 02/08/09
  12.   And still no death penalty? 04:34  |  Arie 02/08/09
  13.   Crime against the gay community 04:47  |  arieh zimmerman 02/08/09
  14.   So sad. Hate crime attack is terror just like Palestinian terror 05:52  |  Tom 02/08/09
  15.   Gays are open in Israel 06:16  |  Mike 02/08/09
  16.   " JEWISH ISRAELI TERROR " 06:29  |  AARON 02/08/09
  17.   There is no excuse - however 06:29  |  Gay Ben 02/08/09
  18.   Lets not jump to conclusions 06:58  |  Meir Weinstein 02/08/09
  19.   Murder at Tel Aviv Gay Center 07:12  |  Barak 02/08/09
  20.   Terrorism what else 07:51  |  Ronny 02/08/09
  21.   To #1: Well said 08:04  |  Human 02/08/09
  22.   And Closing the Clubs Lets the Bastard Win 08:09  |  Marc Levine 02/08/09
  23.   reply to Ben 08:13  |  Ilana 02/08/09
  24.   No evidence 08:26  |  judith 02/08/09
  25.   #7 Meir this is a direct result of hate campaign 08:26  |  SJ 02/08/09
  26.   Gays need to voice their concerns 09:07  |  C2 02/08/09
  27.   reply to Ben -overcome your homophobia 09:31  |  Chaia 02/08/09
  28.   it`s all but killing innocent people. 10:50  |  harizz afridi. 02/08/09
  29.   hate campaign 10:52  |  demos 02/08/09
  30.   STRANGE 10:52  |  Palestinian 02/08/09
  31.   may they rest in peace 10:54  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 02/08/09
  32.   #4, Arie 10:58  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 02/08/09
  33.   to llana 12:05  |  Nick 02/08/09
  34.   Hate crimes again gay 13:09  |  Inge Detlefsen 02/08/09
  35.   Very peculiar 17:30  |  Ephraim 02/08/09
  36.   Not all terror is Islamic or anti-Israeli terror 18:20  |  Mandy Riordan 02/08/09
  37.   My Heart goes out for all these young boys and girls 22:18  |  Ines 02/08/09
  38.   A diffrerent kind of terror... 22:27  |  Ines 02/08/09
  39.   Re#1 I do agree... Hate crime is terror... 22:47  |  Ines 02/08/09
  40.   #16 03:12  |  Rob 03/08/09
  41.   A politicized definition of terrorism 08:59  |  Bassam Lebnan 03/08/09
  42.   Haredim 10:31  |  David 03/08/09
  43.   I dont undurstand?? 06:12  |  Josef Messer 06/08/09
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