Israel: Arrests made in connection with 2009 queer centre shooting

BY NATASHA BARSOTTI — Police have arrested three people in connection with a 2009 shooting at a queer centre in Tel Aviv that took the lives of two people, Israeli news site Y Net reports.

The suspects, who are reportedly all Jews and range in age from 20 to 40, are expected to appear in court for a remand hearing tomorrow (June 6), Y Net says. The report quotes police as saying that the motive for the murders was revenge arising out of a personal dispute. Pink News also reports that the suspects’ identities are being withheld. Further details of the investigation are under a gag order.

Nir Katz, 26, and Liz Trubeshi, 16, were killed Aug 1, 2009, when a masked person entered the Bar-Noar centre and opened fire. Between 10 and 14 people were shot during the attack.

Earlier in the investigation, police had arrested another suspect who reportedly confessed to being involved in the shooting. Authorities concluded he was not the shooter but was shielding the person who is.

Tel Aviv is set to celebrate Pride Friday.

Landing image: ynetnews.com

Natasha Barsotti is originally from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. She had high aspirations of representing her country in Olympic Games sprint events, but after a while the firing of the starting gun proved too much for her nerves. So she went off to university instead. Her first professional love has always been journalism. After pursuing a Master of Journalism at UBC , she began freelancing at Xtra West — now Xtra Vancouver — in 2006, becoming a full-time reporter there in 2008.

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