2 dead, 10 injured in gay shooting
August 2nd, 2009
Two people have killed and at least 10 were injured at a shooting in an Israeli LGBT centre this weekend.
A gunman entered the building in Tel Aviv on Saturday night and started firing indiscriminately at a group of teenagers and young adults.
A 17-year-old girl and a 26-year-old man were killed in the attack. Three of the wounded have serious injuries, according to Israeli ambulance services.
Police are treating the incident as a homophobic attack and have launched a manhunt. Hundreds of police are reported to be involved in a door-to-door hunt for the attacker, who was dressed in black and wore a mask.
Police have ordered the temporary closure of the city’s gay clubs and centres until the man is found.
The location of the attack is a centre offering advice and support for young LGBT people.
The head of Israel’s youth Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Association, Yaniv Weisman, told the BBC the gunman must have deliberately targeted the centre “because it’s not a place you can see outside”.
“The gay community in Israel, in Tel Aviv, today got a message, a very strong message, a red light, that Israel, Tel Aviv, no longer a safe place to no one,” said Weisman.
“And if someone can give himself the option just to say like hate and to say things against the gay community, today he can see the pictures and to see what these words can lead to.”
Israeli President Shimon Peres has condemned the attack. “The shocking murder carried out in Tel Aviv yesterday against youths and young people is a murder which a civilized and enlightened nation cannot accept,” said Peres.
“Murder and hatred are the two most serious crimes in society. The police must exert great efforts in order to catch the despicable murderer, and the entire nation must unite in condemning this abominable act.”
Hundreds of people gathered today (Sunday 2 August 2009) in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Beerhseba to commemorate the victims of the attack. In London a vigil was held in Soho, the site of a homophobic attack in 1999 which killed three people.
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