Yavne man indicted for TA double murder

David Gozlan, 37, charged with 2 counts of premeditated murder after he shot David Alfasi and Itzik Ben-Shlomo following argument at a wedding.

By JOANNA PARASZCZUK
Police car in Tel Aviv at night 311 (photo credit: Yoni Cohen)
Police car in Tel Aviv at night 311
(photo credit: Yoni Cohen)
An indictment was filed at the Tel Aviv District Court on Wednesday against a man suspected of murdering two men in a shootout at the city’s Sportek facility on September 1.
David Gozlan, 37, from Yavne, is charged with two counts of premeditated murder and one count of injury with intent after he shot David Alfasi and Itzik Ben-Shlomo after an argument at a wedding.
The indictment charges him with ambushing them in a crowded area near the Sportek in north Tel Aviv and shooting them multiple times at close range in the head and in their vital organs.
The double murder happened in the context of a conflict between two rival groups in Yavne.
Gozlan was invited to a wedding along with Alfasi and Ben-Shlomo, apparently members of a rival group. During the wedding, Alfasi threatened Gozlan, accusing him of “being friends with several of his enemies.”
Some time later, Alfasi and Ben- Shlomo left the wedding and Gozlan followed them as they walked toward the parking lot.
Gozlan then took out a handgun and shot Ben-Shlomo in the head at close range, before turning the gun on Alfasi and shooting him in the head.
He continued to fire at both men even after they had collapsed to the ground, to confirm they were dead, the indictment says.
Gozlan then walked away from the scene, but was chased by several eyewitnesses who had been in the vicinity during the shooting. As he tried to escape, Gozlan shot and wounded one of the witnesses.
Gozlan managed to cross Rokah Boulevard, but was arrested shortly afterward by police.
Following his arrest, Gozlan had testified to police that he had shot the two men in self-defense. He said Alfasi or Ben-Shlomo had fired at him first, after which he had snatched the gun from them and shot them.
However, several eyewitnesses not connected with the event have testified that Gozlan fired at the two men as they lay on the ground. Closed circuit security cameras at the scene also contradict Gozlan’s testimony.