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A Jewish man shot two Israeli nationals in the street on a busy Saturday night because he wrongly believed them to be Palestinians, say officials.
Mordechai Brafman, 27, is charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder after he shot Yaron and Ari Rabi, a father and son, who were in Miami Beach on vacation in what authorities are calling an “unprovoked” attack that occurred around 9:30pm.
In the wake of the shooting, Brafman’s lawyer told Local10 that his client was “experiencing a severe mental health emergency” at the time he opened fire.
Arrest documents revealed that while being questioned, the gunman declared he was driving and “saw two Palestinians and shot and killed both,” reports CBS Miami. In arrest documents, Brafman identified himself as a married plumber who owns and operates his own company in South Florida.
In the moments leading up to the shooting, Brafman’s truck was captured on surveillance video traveling close to the northern section of Miami Beach, suddenly making a U-turn and driving back to where the two victims were sitting stationary in their car.
Brafman stopped ahead of them in a different lane, and began shooting at their vehicle 17 times, according to the arrest documents.
Both victims were wounded in the attack.
Speaking with CBS Monday, Ari Rabi revealed that he was hit in the left shoulder while his father was scraped by a bullet wound in his left forearm.
Ari was rushed to a local hospital in stable condition.
“One of the bullets missed my father’s head”, he told the network with the help of a friend who interpreted for him. During that interview, the pair confirmed that neither is Palestinian.
The victims confirmed that they had never seen the assailant before.
Shortly after the attack, Brafman was tracked down by police and taken into custody.
In the days after the shooting, the Rabi family posted multiple videos and photos online showing their injuries as well as the damage to their car, in addition to offering commentary about the whole ordeal.
“Doesn’t matter who are you, Palestinians, Jewish, Gaza, doesn’t matter from which country you are, you can’t take a gun and try to kill someone,” a friend of the Rabi family who was interpreting for them told NBC.
“This is crazy”, he added.
Cair’s national executive director Nihad Awad spoke out on X regarding the attack: “It is deeply ironic and telling that both the alleged pro-Israel perpetrator and the pro-Israel victim in the Miami Beach shooting reportedly hold racist anti-Palestinian views”.
The gunman was booked into jail Sunday morning and a bond is yet to be set, according to booking records seen Tuesday.
The Independent requested to see the arrest documents from Miami Beach police.
Source: independent.co.uk
