By YAAKOV LAPPIN
A teenager from the village of Kafr Kasim was shot dead by a gunman with a rifle on Thursday while riding home on a school bus.
Police suspect the attack was linked to a feud between two gangs of students from a high school in Taiba.
The 15-year-old was named as Amjad Shahuna. A second youth sustained moderate wounds in the shooting. Initial reports suggested the deceased had been unrelated to the feud.
"We have, in the past few minutes, arrested three suspects - not in direct connection with the shooting, but on suspicion that they are linked to the feud that caused the shooting," Dep.Cmdr. Yaron Kaleds of the Rosh Ha'ayin Police told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday evening.
"The shooting was carried out with a long-barrel rifle," he added.
Kaleds noted that levels of violent crime were on the rise across Israel.
The school bus came under attack shortly before 4 p.m. as it drove through the Sharon District en route to Kafr Kasim. Several bullets shattered windows as they penetrated the bus.
The bus driver drove on, taking the vehicle to a local infirmary.
From there, Shahuna was rushed in critical condition to the Rabin Medical CenterBeilinson Campus in Petah Tikva. Doctors pronounced him dead after attempts to resuscitate him failed.
Dozens of police officers, headed by Central District Cmdr. Nissim Mor, converged on the area following the attack.
Police said the shooter and an accomplice had hidden in olive groves on the roadside, lying in wait for the bus. As the vehicle passed, the gunman opened fire.
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