Tel Aviv Shooting Leaves 4 Dead, Deemed Terror Attack

"This is a savage crime, murder, terrorism," said Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

ByABC News
June 8, 2016, 8:23 PM

— -- A shooting in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Wednesday — which police were calling a terrorist attack — left four people dead and others wounded, officials said.

The commander of the Tel Aviv police district said that there were two assailants and that one of them is under arrest and the other is being treated for gun wounds.

The two assailants were cousins, Mohamed and Khaled Makhamrah, from the Hebron area, Palestinian sources tell ABC News.

PHOTO: Israeli forensic police investigating the scene of a shooting at a shopping complex in the city of Tel Aviv on June 8, 2016. At least three people were killed and several wounded in the shooting spree, emergency services said.
Israeli forensic police inspect a restaurant following a shooting attack at a shopping complex in the Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv on June 8, 2016. At least three people were killed and several wounded in the shooting spree, emergency services said.

The shooting took place in a market called the Sarona Center, across the street from Israeli military headquarters. Tel Aviv police said they had no prior warning of an imminent terror attack.

Micky Rosenfeld, superintendent of the Israel Police tweeted that Tel Aviv was under "heightened security" following the attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had just landed at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport after returning from Moscow, when the shooting occurred, his office said.

Netanyahu will convene a meeting of his security cabinet on Thursday, according to his office.

Netanyahu told reporters, "This is a savage crime, murder, terrorism in the heart of Tel Aviv. It's done by criminal terrorists who don’t value human life, who are willing to murder innocent citizens who were sitting in a coffee shop."

The U.S. State Department condemned the attack in a statement, writing, "The United States condemns today's horrific terrorist attack in Tel Aviv in the strongest possible terms...These cowardly attacks against innocent civilians can never be justified."

Presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also released a statement, writing, "I condemn the heinous terrorist attack in Tel Aviv today...I stand in solidarity with the Israeli people in the face of these ongoing threats, and in unwavering support of the country’s right to defend itself. Israel's security must remain non-negotiable."