Israel: Police no longer treating LGBT centre shooting as hate crime
Israeli police say the killing of two people at an LGBT youth centre in Tel Aviv four years ago is no longer being treated as a hate crime.
According to the Associated Press, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said on Friday that the motive behind the killing was of a personal nature. He said the suspects intended to shoot someone else at the centre. Instead, they opened fire on the two people they killed.
Nir Katz, 26, and Liz Trubeshi, 16, were killed in August 2009 when a masked gun man dressed head to toe in black entered the venue, underneath Cafe Noir in Tel Aviv, 28 Nachmani Street at the junction with Ahad Ha’am Street.
Police arrested four suspects this week in connection with the killing, originally seen as the most serious homophobic attack in a country that is fairly LGBT-friendly.
LGBT community leaders still claim the victims were killed because of their sexual orientation.
News of the arrests came as Tel Aviv held its annual gay pride parade on Friday.
