MIAMI — A man is facing charges following accusations that he opened fire on a vehicle in Miami Beach this weekend after he saw two men in it who he thought were Palestinians, arrest documents said.
Mordechai Brafman, 27, was arrested and charged with two counts of attempted murder for Saturday night’s shooting.
Around 9:30 p.m., surveillance video captured Brafman’s truck traveling south on Pine Tree Drive and making a U-turn at 48th Street, where the victims’ vehicle was stopped just north of 48th in the left lane.
At that point, Brafman drove by and stopped directly in front of them in the right lane, where he left his vehicle and shot at the victims’ vehicle “17 times, unprovoked, striking both victims” as they passed him, arrest documents said.
One victim was shot in the left shoulder while the other’s left forearm was grazed by a bullet. According to the arrest documents, the victims’ statements were consistent with the surveillance video and none of the three people involved knew each other at the time of the shooting.
Brafman then drove to an area near 4887 Pine Tree Dr., where he was then taken into custody by responding officers.
At the request of Brafman’s attorney, he was not interviewed about the incident.
However, the arrest documents noted that while he was in custody, Brafman spontaneously said that while he was driving his truck, “he saw two Palestinians and shot and killed both.”
