Father, six-year-old son found dead in suspected murder-suicide

Officers suspect man used his father-in-law’s gun; separately, teen stabbed to death in north; police chief says cops can only do so much against ‘unexpected’ killings

A man and his six-year-old son were found dead Sunday morning in a suspected murder-suicide in central Israel, just hours after a teenager was stabbed to death in the north.

The two were discovered in a house in Aviel, a small moshav south of Zichron Ya’akov, by the man’s father-in-law. Police suspect that 43-year-old Dudu Melamed fatally shot his son Sa’ar, then turned the gun on himself.

The deceased father, who had separated from his wife, sent his sister a vague and troubling text message before the incident, Channel 12 news reported.

According to the outlet, Melamed’s father-in-law owned the house where he found them, as well as the gun used to carry out the shooting.

“The father raised the child and took care of his every need, all the time,” a family neighbor told the Ynet news outlet. “No one expected this to happen. The parents were separated. The mother would come here occasionally, but the father was the main person who raised the son.”

Hours before the suspected murder-suicide, a 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death in Hatzor Haglilit, a town in the Upper Galilee.

Paramedics found the teen in critical condition and rushed him to the hospital, where medical staff declared him dead.

Arabic outlets identified the victim as Adam Sawaed, whose family moved to Hatzor Haglilit from Sallama, a nearby Bedouin village, some three decades ago.

Police launched an investigation and arrested a 28-year-old man from Hatzor Haglilit on suspicion of involvement in the lethal stabbing.

Later the same day, police found the knife allegedly used to carry out the attack, and arrested another man on suspicion of evidence tampering.

Both suspects were brought to court, where a judge extended their remand until May 3.

Sawaed was the third person stabbed to death within a week in the country, which is being swept by a wave of deadly violence apparently unrelated to the criminal underworld.

Last week, Yemanu Binyamin Zelka, a 21-year-old pizzeria worker, was stabbed to death on the eve of Independence Day in Petah Tikva, after he told a group of youths to stop spraying party foam in the restaurant.

Police arrested eight suspects, all of them minors ages 12-17, on suspicion of partaking in the stabbing. Two of them have been released to house arrest.

On Friday night, 19-year-old Destao Tzakul was stabbed to death outside his house in Beersheba. Police arrested three suspects, all of them minors.

In a statement Sunday morning, Israel Police chief Danny Levy expressed his condolences to families whose loved ones were killed in recent days. At the same time, he claimed that law enforcement can do little on its own to stem the wave of “unpredictable” homicides.

Alongside organized crime, “there are also spontaneous, unexpected instances, those that are difficult and sometimes impossible to prevent in advance, such as the tragic cases that occurred in Petah Tikva, Beersheba, Hatzor Haglilit and this morning near Zikhron Ya’akov,” he said, referring to the suspected murder-suicide.

Preventing such crimes require coordination between “all relevant sectors” including education, welfare, prevention and the justice system, he added.