Last update - 00:00 14/01/2007
Court remands man suspected of fatal shooting at Arad dance club
By Mijal Grinberg
The Be'er Sheva Magistrate's Court on Saturday remanded for 10 days the suspect in the murder of a man late Friday night in the Manhattan restaurant in Arad.
Michael Niazov, 38, who allegedly shot and killed Yuri Cherkshein, 28, has no criminal record and was not known to police prior to the shooting.
Others present in the restaurant, which is also a dance club popular with local residents from the former Soviet Union, said Cherkshein was seen flirting with Niazov's girlfriend. The two began to quarrel, and Niazov went home and returned with a gun for which he has a license because of his work as a supermarket security guard.
According to the police, the argument between Cherkshein and Niazov began on the dance floor. Niazov returned with a gun, tried to reenter the premises through a back entrance and was not allowed in. He went around the building and managed to get in through a side entrance at which point he began shooting, slightly injuring three bystanders, and severely injuring Cherkshein. The four were taken to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva, where Cherkshein later died.
Police, who arrived at the scene Saturday, arrested a man for obstructing the investigation. The commander of the Arad police station, Tomer Badash, ordered the premises closed for 30 days.