BALTIMORE — Anger over another fatal shooting in Baltimore---this time targeting a Jewish man who came from Israel for a family wedding in an apparent robbery gone wrong.
Caren Leven is the executive director of the Baltimore Zionist District.
“People deal with bombings. People deal with terrorists, and to come here on a one-week vacation to visit your family and to be murdered on the doorstep of your family, the message that it sends is that we need to do a lot of work in our city,” said Leven.
Supporters gathered on the street where the victim died, fanning out through the surrounding community with fliers advertising a $30,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.
While robbery remains a possible motive, Leven says family members believe Ephraim Gordon may also have been the victim of a hate crime.
“I can tell you that he was wearing a kippa. I can tell you from the family in Israel that he did not have anything stolen from him. I can tell you, again, that it was in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood so is it possible that it was anti-Semitism? We can say that’s possible,” said Leven. “The family in Israel does believe it was anti-Semitism.”
Leven adds that it appears three young men confronted the victim as he got out of a car and headed towards his relatives’ house, but the question remains over why instead of just taking his possessions, the gunman decided to take his life.
To be eligible for the reward, if you have any information, you’re asked to call Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7LOCKUP.
