A resident of the Salome quarter of Tel Aviv was fatally wounded in an exchange of fire with police trying to evict a family of squatters from an abandoned building in the slum neighborhood today.
The man, described only as a youth whose name was not immediately reported, allegedly fired three shots at police. The police returned the fire, hitting him in the shoulder. He died later at a hospital. Angered neighbors tried to storm the local police station and blocked a nearby road to Ben Gurion Airport. They were dispersed by police re-enforcements.
The police were originally summoned to Salome after the family of 15 hurled rocks at municipal workers sent to demolish the battered structure in which they had been living. Other residents of the quarter burned tires in the street. The building was slated for demolition as a danger to public safety because of gaping holes in its walls.
The family, which occupied its six rooms, plugged the holes with paper and corrugated iron. They claimed they had a permit to enlarge their residence.
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