THE FOLLOWING IS VIA YWN
Two Israelis were shot dead and a third was wounded Sunday morning in a terror attack at the Barkan Industrial Park in the northern Shomron.
Magen David Adom received the call on Sunday morning, 28 Tishrei, at 7:39AM. According to combined sources, a lone terrorist, a 23-year-old Palestinian resident from a PA village near Tulkarem, entered the second floor where the offices are located and opened fire with a Carl Gustav assault rifle and/or a pistol.
The automatic weapon is a replica of the real one, the type that is commonly manufactured in weapons factories found throughout PA areas. TV News12 and other sources reported the terrorist is a former employee of the company where the attack occurred, leading police at first to suspect the attack may not have been an act of terrorism. Surveillance footage showed the suspect fleeing the scene, gun in hand.
The name and identity of the shooter is known to authorities. Elite IDF units are involved in the ongoing manhunt for the terrorist along with police and Shin Bet agents, as the terrorist may still be at large in the large industrial park. The shooter is believed to still be armed with an automatic weapon. A police helicopter is involved in the manhunt. The industrial park remains shut down.
Three persons were hit by the gunfire, two women and a man. A man and woman sustained critical injuries and were R”L declared dead at the scene.
The third victim, a woman in her 50s, was less seriously wounded and arrived in the trauma unit of Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah conscious and alert; as is described by the hospital spokesman in the video below. Deputy Director of Beilinson Hospital Dr. Ram Sagi said the woman was listed in serious/stable condition in the trauma unit when she first arrived. It was later reported stated her condition has B’chasdei Hashem been stabilized, and she is now listed in moderate non-life-threatening condition. She remains in the emergency room at this time, with family members at her side.
It was reported earlier that while there were many persons the shooter passed as he fled the area, he did not open fire at them; adding to the theory the shooting was that of a disgruntled former employee, and not a terror attack. On the other hand, Facebook postings by the shooter from hours before the attack, including reference to Har Habayis and al-Aqsa Mosque, seem to point in the other direction, a nationalistically motivated act of terrorism.
Some employees told KAN11 Radio News that the shooter failed to report to work for the past two weeks, and suddenly appeared this morning. The accuracy of these reports are questionable at this time.
The official announcement was made by the IDF spokesman Brigadier-General Ronen Manelis at about 9:454AM, that the attack was a nationalistically motivated terrorist attack despite some of the points listed above that led some to believe otherwise.
KAN11 News added earlier police are still trying to determine how the terrorist succeeded in entering the premises with the automatic weapon.
ZAKA volunteer Roi Solomon reports he was among the first responders on the scene. “We received a call for a shooting in the Barkan Industrial Park. A number of workers were injured, with some in serious condition.
“When I arrived on the scene, chaos prevailed. Two of the wounded were men and the third a woman, who appeared to be in her 40s, in critical condition. Medical personnel on the scene began CPR and resuscitation efforts. The two critically wounded victims were pronounced dead on the scene after resuscitation efforts failed. A 54-year-old woman was transported to Beilinson Hospital. A manhunt is underway for the shooter. The attack is being investigated to determine the motive, possibly an act of terror. ZAKA responders from Emanuel responded to the scene”.
MDA Hatzoloh responders were among the medical personnel operating on the scene. Shlomo Slomowitz, an EMT on the scene explained to the media that when he arrived, he found three victims in critical and serious condition. He added, “unfortunately, two of them, a man and a woman in their 30s were pronounced dead on the scene after resuscitation efforts failed”.
United Hatzalah emergency medical personnel operated on the scene as well. Read more at YWN
