Shootings in South leave two dead

Bullets fly in nightclub in Arad; farm owner fires on alleged trespassers in Negev.

By JOSH BRANNON
handgun 88 (photo credit: )
handgun 88
(photo credit: )
Two men were killed and five others wounded - one critically - in two separate shooting incidents in the South on Friday night. Meanwhile, in Eilat, a 19-year-old policewoman was seriously wounded after being accidentally struck in the head with an iron pipe as she attempted to break up a fight on the city's boardwalk, police said. In the first of a spate of violent incidents, a disagreement on a crowded dance floor inside the Manhattan nightclub in Arad's industrial district turned deadly when a man opened fire on a group of revellers. Yuri Tzarkeshin, 28, from Beersheba was critically wounded, and two other men in their 30s were lightly wounded. Shortly after 1:00 a.m., a verbal altercation followed by fistfights broke out between groups on the crowded dance floor. Shots then rang out over the melee, sending panicked clubbers running in every direction, witnesses said. Magen David Adom paramedics rushed Tzarkeshin and two other gunshot victims to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, where, according to hospital officials, Tzarkeshin arrived without a pulse and not breathing. Despite intense efforts to resuscitate him, Tzarkeshin succumbed to his wounds. The two other men were reported to be lightly wounded and in stable condition. A 40-year-old Arad resident suspected in the shooting was arrested, along with two other suspects, police said. Arad station commander Ch.-Supt. Tomer Badesh ordered that the nightclub, which Arad residents say has been the scene of violent incidents in the past, be closed for a month. "There are still several things we need to check, such as why was this individual allowed to enter the club with a weapon, and even more so - why was there not a security guard on duty?" Badesh said. The owners of the club could not be reached for comment. In another shooting, a farm owner in the Negev fired on a group of men who allegedly trespassed on his property, killing Khaled al-Atrash, 31, who had recently been released from prison after serving four years for agricultural theft, police said. In Eilat, a policewoman was hit with an iron pipe overnight Thursday as she attempted to break up a fight on the city's boardwalk. Officer Sivan Martziano, 19, and a second police officer were attempting to separate the two men involved when a 40-centimeter pipe that one of the combatants had been waving flew from his hand and struck her, knocking her unconscious. Additional officers and an ambulance were dispatched to the scene, which culminated in the arrest of a 28-year-old Eilat resident with a history of violence. Martziano was evacuated to Yosephtal Hospital in Eilat, where she was treated for a shattered eye socket and listed in stable condition, police said.