A man was shot dead and two others injured in the northern coastal city of Nahariya on Wednesday evening, in what was suspected to be an incident of criminal underworld violence, the second deadly shooting in two days linked to organized crime.
One person, 18, was critically injured by the gunfire and later died at the Galilee Medical Center.
A second man, 20, was seriously injured and the third, 24, suffered light wounds, according to Hebrew-language media reports.
Police said two of the men were residents of Nahariya and one lived in the town of Jadeidi-Makr.
All three were known to police, the Ynet news site reported.
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The shooting happened at a public park on Zalman Shazar Boulevard.
Screen capture from video of the scene of a deadly shooting in the northern district city of Nahariya, October 5, 2022 (Walla news; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
According to Channel 12 news, the three were apparently from the same family and were at the park along with other family members.
An initial investigation found that the incident was crime-related, reports said. Police said they were hunting for the suspects.
An eyewitness told Channel 12 he saw two gunmen chasing the three, before opening fire.
“It seemed like it was planned, the shooters ambushed the three and fled in a vehicle,” the unnamed witness said.
The network reported that a short while later the suspected getaway vehicle was found, engulfed in flames apparently after having been set alight.
Police said two men were arrested after rioters attacked police and security guards at the hospital after they heard of the man’s death.
The shooting came two days after Benny Shlomo, 42, head of the Shlomo crime family, was killed and another man seriously injured in a suspected underworld hit near Tel Aviv.
They were shot in broad daylight at a gas station in Azor.
It was unclear if the two shootings were connected.
