Baku-APA. Israeli authorities went house-to-house Saturday in Tel Aviv, searching for the man suspected of killing two people and injuring eight others in a shooting outside a pub, APA reports quoting CNN.
What authorities called "units specializing in locating and neutralizing perpetrators" were on the scene, Israeli police said Saturday in a statement.
"All of our emphasis at this moment in time is finding that suspect and all the different organizations -- security organizations here in Israel -- are working together to find that man," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told CNN on Saturday.
Police have identified the suspect as Nasha'at Melhem, 31, an Arab-Israeli who lives in northern Israel.
Israeli authorities believe Melhem is the gunman who sprayed bullets from an automatic weapon near the Simta pub on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv, killing two and injuring at least eight before fleeing.
The man fired off more than 15 rounds in "a number of different directions," Rosenfeld said Friday.
An uncle of Melhem's told CNN that the man's father recognized Melhem in surveillance video of the attack broadcast by Israeli media, and immediately contacted police.
The uncle -- who gave the suspect's age as 29 -- said the man has a psychological disorder and had been previously sentenced to five years in prison for attempting to steal an Israeli soldier's weapon.
The uncle said he did not know if Melhem was taking medications he had been prescribed for the condition.
According to Melhem's uncle, the suspect's father works as a volunteer for Israeli police.
The father discovered after the attack that a weapon he kept in a safe at home was missing, the uncle said. It was not immediately known if that was the weapon used in the attack.
Authorities have not confirmed the family's account.
More than 24 hours after the shooter was last seen, police continued to press the urgent search. Officers from several Israeli agencies set up roadblocks in Tel Aviv, checked homes and searched empty buildings around the city, Rosenfeld said.
"You have to understand the central area of Tel Aviv is a main populated area with hundreds of tourists that have come in for the new year, and we have to prevent any further incident from taking place," he said.
While authorities indicated they were only hunting for a single suspect, a statement Saturday suggested they were still open to the possibility that the man had help.
Among things police were looking at was whether the shooter was "a murderer who acted alone" in a criminal act or act of terror, authorities said Saturday.
Police are also attempting to determine if another incident in the Tel Aviv area was related to the attack on Dizengoff Street, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told CNN on Saturday.
He did not provide details of that incident.
Authorities asked the public to notify police of any suspicious activity.
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