Family of shooter in parking lot killing apologizes to victim’s family
Relatives of Victor Katan, 74, lament the tragedy of Ofir Hasdai’s death, but insist the deceased was committing assault when he was shot
The family of the shooter in a parking dispute in central Israel has expressed regret over the death of Ofir Hasdai.
Hasdai, 40, was trying to park in a disabled spot at Ramle’s Azrieli mall on Sunday afternoon on behalf of his wife, who has muscular dystrophy. There, a fight broke out with Victor Katan, 74, over the parking space, and Hasdai was gunned down in the mall parking lot in front of his wife and three daughters.
“We express deep sorrow over what happened. We are sorry it ended this way,” the Katan family said in a statement on Wednesday. “There was no intention to kill him. It is a tragedy for us as well. He only wanted to stop the assault on his wife.”
Katan’s family has claimed that Hasdai attacked Katan’s wife during the fight, prompting the pensioner to open fire. According to Dikla Hasdai, however, her husband approached Katan in the parking lot to ask him to move his vehicle, which was parked over two handicapped spots. She said Katan’s wife began hitting Hasdai with her handbag. According to her account, Katan then took out a weapon and shot Hasdai in the foot and, moments later, in the chest.
“My heart is broken from the terrible outcome. I endured an assault by the deceased,” Katan’s wife, who was not named, told Channel 13 on Wednesday. “Victor fell apart when he saw me sprawled on the ground with a large man standing over me. If only the whole thing hadn’t happened.”
Katan was brought before a judge and remanded on Monday on suspicion of murder. He was claiming self-defense, citing the fight that broke out over the parking spot.
Dikla Hasdai told Israeli media outlets the couple have three children: 9-year-old twins, one of whom has cerebral palsy, and an 18-month-old who suffers from muscular dystrophy and needs to use a respirator. Their third daughter is not disabled.
She said her husband was the sole breadwinner for the family. “I have no idea how I’ll manage alone,” Dikla Hasdai said in interviews with several news outlets as she appealed for help. “He did everything.”
An online fundraising campaign for Hasdai’s family has raised over NIS 1.7 million ($485,000) since Monday morning.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday condemned the “shocking” killing of the father of three.
“Ofir Hasdai’s terrible murder is shocking to all of us. A father gunned down over a parking space,” the prime minister posted on Twitter. “This is terrible… There is no place for violence in our society, and we will not tolerate it.”
Netanyahu said that welfare authorities would help the Hasdais, and called the online initiative set up to help the family a “very moving” response to the violence.
On Monday evening, Hasdai was laid to rest at the Ramle cemetery with some 200 people in attendance, including Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel.
