Jane Onyanga-Omara

USA TODAY

A massive manhunt was underway in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Friday after two people were killed and at least five were injured when a gunman opened fire in a popular bar, police said.

The motive behind the shooting wasn't immediately clear. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, who released the number killed and injured on Twitter, said officers were still investigating whether the shooting was a criminal or terrorist act.

CCTV footage shown on Israeli Channel 10 and posted online show a man with black hair, glasses and a backpack at a grocery store next door moments before the shooting. After about a minute of walking around, including scooping some nuts into a plastic bag and putting them back, the man places his backpack in a cart, takes out a gun and steps outside, where he starts shooting at the neighboring building. He quickly fires off some rounds before running away.

Israeli media reported the suspect was a 29-year-old Israeli Arab who was known to police and whose father called authorities after seeing footage of the attack.

It was unclear if Friday's attack was related to ongoing tensions in the region. The shooting comes amid more than three months of stabbing, shooting and vehicle attacks by Palestinians against Israelis. Some 21 Israelis have died and least 131 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, 90 of them identified by Israel as assailants.

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Dudi Malka, one of the owners of the bar where Friday's shooting took place, told Haaretz that the gunman was a "fairly short, light-skinned man holding an M16 gun."

​Channel 10 reported about 30 shots were fired, and authorities were carrying out a house-to-house search.

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai visited the injured in hospital and said that “friends were celebrating a birthday and a man opened fire at them from the outside,” the Associated Press reported. He added that "lessons will be learned” to improve security.

Gali Morag, who lives opposite the bar, said she heard gunfire and saw a young man dressed in black and wearing a wool cap running down the street, with others running after him, Haaretz reported.

"There was a huge crowd when I got to the scene," Shani Mizrachi, a paramedic told Haaretz. “Some of the wounded were inside the pub and others lying in the street."

Contributing: Katharine Lackey