Chaim Karman, a student at the Ateret Cohanim Yeshiva, was murdered this morning in the vicinity of the Via Dolorosa in the Muslim quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.
At 05:45 this morning, Karman was attacked and stabbed four times in the chest, abdomen, leg and hand.
28-year old Karman, married and the father of three, was mortally injured and died shortly after the attack. As resuscitation attempts failed, a Magen David Adom physician certified his death.
Karman was murdered while on his way to pray at the Western Wall. He was carrying a licensed revolver, with which he evidently managed to fire a single shot.
Border Police and Police reinforcements were rushed to the Old City area, where they closed the gates in an effort to capture the perpetrator. Twenty suspects were detained for questioning.
Jerusalem District Police Cmdr. Yair Yitzhaki said it was not clear whether Karman had managed to hit his assailant. The criminal identification laboratory is presently examining the bloodstains found at the scene of the crime, to establish whether there is more than one blood type.
Published by Israel's Business Arena May 6, 1998