Tel Aviv schools under heavy security amid searches for Dizengoff gunman

As part of municipal security precautions, security forces remain reinforced throughout the city on 24-hour patrols.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Updated: JANUARY 3, 2016 09:02
Tel Aviv gunman moments before he starts shooting
Security around schools in Tel Aviv and other crowded areas in the city were set to be bolstered Sunday in the wake of Friday’s fatal shooting on Dizengoff Street.
As searches continued for the perpetrator of the shooting, the Tel Aviv Municipality said that it would deploy more security guards, although it encouraged the city’s residents to adhere to their daily routine.
School trips and activities were set to continue as scheduled, the municipality announced.
As part of municipal security precautions, security forces also remained reinforced throughout the city on 24-hour patrols.
Following security assessments Saturday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior security officials, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai underlined that studies would take place as usual this week, albeit under highlighted security.
However, Huldai expressed his empathy toward worried parents in light of the existing tensions.
Late on Saturday night, large numbers of police deployed in the north Tel Aviv quarter of Ramat Aviv after locals reported seeing an individual who may fit the description of the gunman who attacked a bar on Dizengoff Street a day earlier.
An ongoing manhunt since Friday afternoon's attack has continued in and around the Tel Aviv area for the shooter believed to be responsible for killing two Israelis and wounding several more in the suspected terrorist attack.
The suspect, named on Saturday as Nashat Milhem, 31, is believed to still be armed with the submachine gun he allegedly used in the attack, and to pose a clear and present danger to the public.
Special police patrol units and officers from the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) continued Saturday to search door-to-door at apartment buildings and construction sites in and around Tel Aviv for Milhem, a native of the Arab village of Arara in northern Israel.
The two victims killed in the attack were named as Alon Bakal of Karmiel, 26, the manager of the pub where the shooting began, and Shimon Ruime of Ofakim, 30, who was attending a birthday party for a friend at the establishment.