Tel Aviv mayor: We will not give up our daily routine

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai vowed Friday that the city would carry on as normal, after a gunman open fired on a busy street populated with cafes and shops, killing two people and wounding five others.

“The usual Tel Aviv Friday afternoon has been cut short. I came to the scene as soon as I learned of the incident, and later went to Ichilov Hospital,” said Huldai.

“I met the young wounded people who had been out to celebrate a birthday and found themselves at the scene of a tragic shooting. Tel Aviv has always been a target for such events, and as always we will stick to our daily routine.”

Tel Aviv is often viewed as the cultural hub of the country, and Fridays normally see packed cafes, restaurants and bars as Israelis mark the start of the weekend.

The shots were fired at locations near the city’s well-known Dizengoff Center Mall, an area that is crowded on Friday afternoons. Witnesses said some 15 shots were fired in the attack, apparently in semiautomatic bursts from a Carl Gustav submachine gun.

Eyewitnesses said the gunman fired into at least three establishments in the area — a bar, a restaurant and a cafe, and then fled. One of the cafe staffers said several people chased after him “but he disappeared” into a side street. Officers from the special police unit Yasam were out in force in the immediate vicinity, searching for the gunman.

The municipality on Friday opened a helpline for any local residents suffering from shock or anxiety in the wake of the attack. Tel Aviv residents can call *9106 for assistance, city hall said.

Israel Police Commander Roni Alsheich was also on hand at the scene of the attack, the Israeli media reported.