Tel Aviv Shooting: Two Dead, Others Wounded In Shooting Attack On Dizengoff Street Pub

UPDATE: 1 p.m. EST — Israeli investigators said the suspected gunman who fired on a busy Tel Aviv street Friday is an Arab citizen of Israel. Authorities are now searching the man's home, Israel's Channel 10 broadcast network reported.

The suspect is reportedly from the region of Wadi Ara, close to the northern Israeli town of Haifa. Channel 10 reported the suspect's father recognized his son in the security camera footage that emerged shortly after the shooting attack.

Israeli security officials said the suspect was likely operating under the influence of the Islamic State group's ideology. Investigators earlier reported finding a copy of the Quran in the gunman's backpack, which also housed the semiautomatic rifle used in the assualt, the Jerusalem Post newspaper reported.

Two people were killed in Friday's shooting, while seven people were injured, including four who were seriously hurt and three moderately wounded, Tel Aviv police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told CNN. Earlier reports put the total number of injured people at eight, including one person who was lightly wounded.

Original story:

Two people were killed Friday and at least eight others wounded in a shooting attack on a crowded pub in central Tel Aviv. Police officials said it was unclear whether the attack was a criminal act or politically motivated, local media reported.

Four victims remained in serious condition Friday afternoon while three were in moderate condition and an eighth slightly injured, the Jerusalem Post, Israel's leading English newspaper, reported. The shooting took place at a pub on Dizengoff Street in the heart of Tel Aviv. The bar reportedly caters to the city's gay, lesbian and transgender communities.

Police said the suspected shooter remains at large and warned residents to clear the blocks near Dizengoff and Gordon streets as they combed the area. Tel Aviv police officers arrested at least one suspicious person near the scene.

Witnesses said they heard at least 10 gunshots, apparently from an assault rifle, news reports said.

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai rushed to the scene of the pub shooting. He told a group of reporters the attack "appears to be a terrorist attack motivated by nationalism," the Jerusalem Post reported.

When asked about reports that the Dizengoff bar is popular with LGBT crowds, Huldai said the pub "doesn't have any unique significance for me." He added, "There was a terrible event here, and we will get through it just as we have gotten through similar ones in the past."

Micky Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the Tel Aviv police department, told BBC News: "It's not clear what the background of the incident is, if it's a terrorist attack or if it's criminal-related."

The shooting follows a wave of Palestinian attacks against Israelis in recent months. As of Dec. 23, 2015, at least 21 Israelis have been slain, the majority in stabbings and shootings committed by Palestinians, the BBC reported. At least 131 Palestinians were also killed over the same period.

Rosenfeld said Friday undercover units and counter-terrorism units were working in different areas of Tel Aviv.