Residents of the Neve Yaakov neighborhood in northern Jerusalem were shocked when a young couple, the parents of four children, were found shot to death in their home on Friday.
The incident occurred in the afternoon, when gunshots were heard from inside the haredi couple's apartment. Their 13-year-old son went to the bedroom and witnessed the horrific sight. A gun with a license the father had obtained a year earlier was found near his body.
Police are investigating the possibility that this was a murder-suicide, but the investigation is ongoing and the circumstances have not yet been fully clarified.
Residents in the neighborhood describe a couple devoted to their family, with no apparent signs of distress. "It was a warm and loving family, we didn't see anything unusual, everything collapsed in an instant," they said.
The woman, her neighbors said, was known as a charitable person who was always ready to help others. "She was always the first to help and assist mothers and the sick," said one of the women in the neighborhood. About twenty minutes before the incident, she sent a congratulatory message to her friend who had given birth.
The two were not known to social services or the police, and there were no prior warnings. The first responders that were called to the scene were forced to declare them dead at the scene.
MDA paramedic Eden Marzeev and MDA EMT Omri David said: "They led us to the apartment and saw a man and a woman in their 30s, unconscious with no pulse and not breathing. We performed medical examinations and were forced to declare them dead at the scene."