Man killed, another wounded in Rehovot drive-by

In Holon, moped driver allegedly tries to run over police officers who interrupted robbery; officers fired at the suspects, striking one.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Police car in Tel Aviv at night 311 (photo credit: Yoni Cohen)
Police car in Tel Aviv at night 311
(photo credit: Yoni Cohen)
A drive-by shooting of two men on a busy Rehovot street killed one and seriously wounded the other on Friday night.
The two were sitting in a car on the city’s bustling Yavne Street when the assailant fired several times in their direction.
“We believe the shots were fired from a moving vehicle,” a regional police spokeswoman said. “The gunshot victims are known to us due to previous offenses.”
Police named the dead man as Ofir Bashari, 39, of Rehovot.
Paramedics rushed the wounded man, age 27, to the city’s Kaplan Medical Center.
Rehovot police launched a homicide investigation, which was subsequently taken over by the Central Police District’s central unit.
Meanwhile, in Holon a man on a moped allegedly attempted to run over police officers after being surprised during an attempted robbery, police said.
The officers had been dispatched to the street after calls by residents. They spotted two men on a moped, with one firing shots at a taxi, police added.
The police ordered the suspects to stop, but say the moped continued straight toward them in an attempt to run them over.
One of the officers fired at the suspects, striking one in the leg and moderately wounding him. The wounded gunman was rushed to the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, where he underwent surgery. The second suspect fled and was still being sought.
Addressing the incident, Police Insp.-Gen. Yochanan Danino offered his full backing to the officers, saying they acted properly. He was was on patrol with police units in south Tel Aviv at the time to examine up close how police were complying with new orders to increase their visibility on the streets.