JERUSALEM—Seven people, including a 14-year-old boy, were murdered and two were wounded when a terrorist opened fire on worshippers following Shabbat services at the Ateret Avraham synagogue in the Neve Yaakov neighborhood in the city’s north. The 21-year-old terrorist was killed by police after a brief chase and shootout five minutes after driving away from the scene.
After entering the synagogue and shooting at people there, the attacker chased those who were trying to escape into the street, where he continued to fire with a handgun. He then fled the scene in his car.
The first victims to be identified were Eli and Natali Mizrachi, who rushed from their home after hearing gunshots. The couple had been married for only two years. “We were in the middle of our Shabbat meal,” said Eli Mizrachi’s father, Shimon. “He was a modest man, religious. He wanted to help,” the father continued. “He heard that there were gunshots and when they stopped, he rushed to help the victims—he and his wife.”
The names of the other victims were released on Saturday evening. They are Asher Natan, 14; Ilya Sosansky, 26; Raphael Ben Eliyahu, 50; Irina Korolova, 60; and Shaul Hai, 68.
“We arrived at the scene extremely quickly and it was horrible,” said Shimon Alfasi, a paramedic with the Magen David Adom ambulance service. “Injured people were lying on the street at the Neve Yaakov boulevard. An unconscious 70-year-old woman was suffering from gunshots.”
Four victims were pronounced dead at the scene, including three men aged 60, 50, 25 and a 60-year-old woman. Three victims—including 14-year-old Asher Natan, a 70-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man—were pronounced dead after being rushed to local hospitals. A 24-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman remained in moderate condition on Saturday night.
MDA and United Hatzalah paramedics and crisis counselors provided treatment for dozens in a state of shock at the scene.
“He got out of his car not far from here and began a killing spree with a pistol,” said Yaakov Shabtai, the inspector general of the Israeli police. “Everyone who crossed his path, he shot at them from close range. It was one of the worst terror attacks we’ve encountered in recent years.”
Two Shot Outside the Old City
In a separate attack the next day, two men remained in moderate to serious condition after being wounded in a shooting attack on Saturday afternoon in the City of David, just outside the walls of the Old City.
The terrorist, a teenager from the Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem, was shot and killed by a civilian at the site.
“He waited to ambush civilians on the holy Shabbat,” said Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunn, adding that the teenager opened fire on a group of five civilians.
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