7 killed, 11 injured in Tel Aviv shooting attack

First responders arrived on the scene shortly after 7 p.m. local time. “I noticed several victims near the train tracks suffering from gunshot wounds. I immediately began providing medical treatment, and at the same time, passersby pointed out additional victims at a nearby kiosk,” Yousef Kourdi, an emergency medical technician with Israel’s emergency service, Magen David Adom, said in a statement.

Another emergency medic, Israel Rost, said he arrived on his medicycle to treat victims suffering from stab wounds in a synagogue and a butcher shop at a nearby commercial center. They had moderate to serious injuries.

Two paramedics, Omri Gorga and Noam Eliyof, said eyewitnesses described seeing a railcar struck by gunfire as it traveled along Jerusalem Boulevard, a tree-lined thoroughfare and public transportation route, before coming to a stop at Makhrozet Street.

The pair recounted in the statement released by emergency services officials that they found injured people inside and around the railcar, four of whom were unconscious and appeared lifeless. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Hamas claimed responsibility for an earlier bombing that shook Tel Aviv in August. That explosion, near a synagogue, injured at least one person. Hamas warned at the time that such operations “will resume prominently” as long as the war in Gaza continues.

The latest attack occurred just ahead of a large-scale missile attack from Iran, adding to the tensions.

The medics said they continued to provide first aid to others as an alarm sounded, warning of a swarm of Iranian missiles over Tel Aviv, and sending residents scrambling for bomb shelters.

Lior Soroka contributed to this report.