Israel Police on Monday arrested four suspects in the assassination of mafia boss Benny Shlomo at the tail end of a massive, hours-long manhunt.
One suspect was captured at Ben-Gurion Airport and three others were caught in a vehicle near the city of Gedera. All four are in their 20s and are members of the Ramla-based Jarushi crime family.
Surveillance camera footage of the shooting
According to the police, two gunmen approached Shlomo at a gas station in Azor near Tel Aviv Monday afternoon and opened fire at him from close range, killing him and seriously wounding another man who was with him, before fleeing the scene.
Magen David Adom medics who arrived at the scene transferred the two to a nearby hospital where doctors pronounced Shlomo’s death.
“[Shlomo] passed right next to me and suddenly he began running,” an eyewitness told Ynet.
“They shot him several times and I ran back to my car. I ducked and locked the doors. I was scared for my life. After they drove away, I got out and ran toward the wounded. As I got there, I saw a cop and realized there was nothing left to do.”
According to the police, an off-duty cop who was filling up his motorcycle at the gas station witnessed the attack, called in the incident, and gave chase after the suspects’ vehicle on his bike.
The officer managed to close in on the getaway car, but the driver rammed into his bike, knocking him off. The policeman suffered no injuries.
The suspects abandoned the vehicle and began fleeing on foot before carjacking a woman on the other side of the road. The officer opened fire at the suspects, but they got away unharmed in the stolen vehicle.
A senior police official told Ynet they were expecting retaliation for the suspected underworld hit.
“It’s only a question of where and when,” he said.
Benny Shlomo's crime organization has been locked in a bloody rivalry with the Jarushis for years. Shlomo himself has survived several attempts on his life over the years. His brother Shalom Shlomo was assassinated in 2015.