Residents of Neve Yaakov, a neighborhood in northern Jerusalem just minutes away from Bait Hanina, are furious at the authorities and feel betrayed at the lack of swift response to Shabbat evening's deadly attack.
"The terrorist was driving around the neighborhood for around twenty minutes, looking for the 'best' place to commit the attack," relates one local resident. "I know a few people who saw him driving around, and in fact every Shabbat there are Arabs driving through here, playing loud music purposely to upset us. If there had been a police checkpoint, this tragedy could have been averted.
"The terrorist shot at me, too," he adds. "He was shooting in all directions, but I managed to escape."
"There are two police stations nearby," relates another resident. "One of them is just a minute away, literally, from where the shooting started. We heard the sounds of shooting in the middle of our Shabbat meal and we called the police right away. But it took the police almost ten minutes to arrive. Here, right behind me, a father was killed, right in front of two of his children," he cries.
"This government received a mandate in the elections to deal with the root of this problem," he adds, his voice again rising in his frustration. "They were voted in to deal with what's going on here, the lack of personal security. People are afraid to leave their homes. They're terrified. When I left my home to go to synagogue this morning, I was afraid too."
Meanwhile, a Channel 13 News team that arrived at the scene on Saturday evening was heckled and jeered by local residents.