Six suspects were arrested following an overnight manhunt over the killing of a 19-year-old man who was stabbed during a fight Saturday in Jerusalem’s Nachlaot neighborhood, police said.
Witnesses said the victim was stabbed inside an Airbnb apartment on Shirizli Street, in the historic neighborhood near central Jerusalem. The suspects were expected to be brought before the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court later Sunday for a hearing on extending their detention.
(Photo: Gil Yohanan)
The Magen David Adom emergency service said it received a report of the stabbing at 7:02 p.m. Paramedics Shlomo Kalman and Yinon Eisenberg said they found the young man unconscious, without a pulse and not breathing, with severe penetrating wounds.
“We provided lifesaving medical treatment, including prolonged resuscitation efforts, and evacuated him to the hospital,” they said. Doctors at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center pronounced him dead shortly afterward.
Police said the fight was criminally motivated and dispatched forensic investigators to the scene before launching a search for the suspects. Jerusalem District Commander Maj. Gen. Avshalom Peled and his deputy also arrived at the site, and the investigation was assigned to the Zion Precinct’s crime-fighting unit.
A police source said the victim was found lying on a bed with stab wounds to his upper body.
Aharon, a resident of the building, told ynet that he had contacted police several times about activity in the apartment. “Last Thursday, I told them there were drugs, prostitution and chaos in the apartment,” he said. “They told me it was not their business and that they could not deal with it.”
He said he had not filed a formal complaint but had urged police to investigate. “I told them, ‘Check what is happening here. People are selling drugs.’ I said there was criminal activity, but they did not take me seriously.”
“What is happening in this neighborhood is complete lawlessness,” he added. “After the incident, a friend told me there had been a murder here, and I said it was predictable. This is no longer new. I was waiting for it to happen.”
“The writing was on the wall, and nothing was done,” he said. “Our sense of security has been shattered. There is drug dealing, prostitution and lawlessness like nowhere else. What is happening here is shocking.”