Gunman kills Arab, wounds Jew in Jerusalem shootings

A gunman killed one person, seriously wounded a second and said he tried to hit a third in an apparent shooting spree in central Jerusalem early Tuesday morning, police said.

Yoel Almog Dazhinishvilli shot and killed Amjad Abu Hadar, 33, and seriously wounded a Jewish yeshiva student who passed by moments later. Police say Danishvilli also tried to wound a third man, but failed.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said investigators thought Dazhinishvilli had psychological problems and did not think his attacks had a political motivatation.

Rosenfeld said he did not know if Dazhinishvilli had a history of psychological problems. Both men were shot at close range.

Danishvilli, 48, had a permit to carry the weapon for his job as a security guard. He was arrested shortly after a man was found with bullet wounds to the chest on Hanevi'im Street in central Jerusalem at around 3 A.M.

Rosenfeld said the gunman told police he had been meditating in the square at around 3:30 A.M. when the Arab man approached him. The gunman told police that he had opened fire when he felt threatened, and had shot the second man he asked him for a cigarette.